Egyptian sculpture

18 EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE

artist worked in red granite, which was largely used for colossi, where the roughness of the material did not matter and the inferior workmanship was not so visible.

The finest work is found in the hardest and finest stones, such as diorite, crystalline limestone, quartzite, basalt, and grey or black granite. Limestone of varying degrees of quality was the usual material for all statues, whether of royalties or commoners.

Black and grey granite were worked sometimes with metal tools (chisels, drills fed with emery), sometimes by hammerdressing; limestone, alabaster, the softer stones, and wood were worked with metal tools.

SCULPTURE Materials

METAL

OMPOSITE (Ey

ALABASTER LIMESTONE OBSIDIAN QUARTZ ITE SANDSTONE SERPENTINE

F © S q

PROTO

OLD KINGDOM MIDDLE KINGDOM NEW KINGDOM TELLEL AMARNA LATE PERIOD PTOLEMAIC

re) xX 1X

x x x

Though I do not propose to deal with statuettes in this connection, this is a convenient place to enumerate the materials of which they were made. Including the amuletic figures of deities, statuettes were made of the same stones as