Egyptian sculpture

OLD KINGDOM 61

either the sister or daughter of the other lady. The two female figures are more conventional and less carefully rendered than the king; the lower part of the bodies, the legs, and especially the ankles, show less observation of nature as well as less technical skill in rendering than do the faces. In a careful examination of the group it would appear that the king’s figure as far as the hands, the heads and possibly the shoulders of the two women, and that hand of Hathor which holds the king’s hand, were all the work of one sculptor; the rest was by other and inferior workers, possibly pupils and apprentices. The dresses of the two female figures are the usual tight-fitting straight robe of the Egyptian women; the hair has a slight indication of a middle parting, and falls in a long braid over each shoulder to the level of the arm-pit, a fashion which is not known till after the time of Khufu. The head-dresses indicate the personality of each goddess; both wear bracelets on each wrist, but only the nome-goddess has a necklace. The group is sculptured in slate, a material which lends itself to fine detailed work, but it is not often met with in later periods.

The statue of Ateta (Pl. XI. 1), which was found at Saqqgara, is a good example of the method of using a figure as an architectural decoration, for it stands within the false door, which is vertical and horizontal. The construction of “false doors” suggests that they represent the facade of a house, the recessed method of building being common at that period. In order to agree with the setting in which the figure is seen it has to approximate to the lines of that setting; these being vertical and horizontal, the statue is as vertical and horizontal as it is possible to make the human figure. Seen thus in the setting in which it was intended to be seen, the statue is in keeping with its surroundings, though if removed and placed under a curved or arched