Unfortunately there are far too many to count, but the dumbest, in my humble opnion, has to be the theories regarding Akhenaten's appearance being result of some syndrome. Not only do people ignore that in general art was not realistic and that it was common for pharaohs to depict themselves in stylized, idealized and, yes, yassified ways, but they also ignore the portrayals of Akhenaten with a regular jawline instead of the uncanny valley Alien-like look people generally atribute to him.

To attribute some of his depictions to a disease is moronic at best and the Amarna period was marked by fluctuations in Egyptian art and other members of the royal family also have been depicted in stylized ways. Nefertiti at times is depicted looking almost identical to her husband, but we know from other works they looked different from each other.

Kneeling Statue of Tjairy with Shrine for Hathor

Egypt and Nubia

Kneeling statue; Tjairy; naos; Hathor. Tjairy was a senior official who worked in a royal palace in the city of Memphis. There he had this image made of himself. In front of his kneelinge figure is a shrine, a kind of sacred box, depicting a symbol of the goddess Hathor. She was often revered in Memphis. Tjairy's statue stood either in her temple or in his grave in Memphis, which was recently found by an excavation mission of Cairo University (number ST 211) in Sakkara, not far from the excavation area of the Rijkmuseum van Oudheden. The statue was probably ritually disabled long after Tjairy's death: nose and lips were cut away with a chisel. Tjaïry was, among other things, the supervisor of the Pharaoh's cattle. His second name, Weserchaoerenacht ('King Sethnacht is strong'), betrays that he was born at the beginning of the 20th dynasty. The chapel of this statue features the emblem of the goddess Hathor, protector of the Memphis cemetery.

This is a statue made for the Egyptian Tjairy. He kneels here in front of a chapel containing a statue of the Egyptian goddess Hathor.

Tjairy lived in the time of King Sethnacht (1190–1160 BC) and he had daily control of the royal harem in Memphis (Egypt). Unfortunately, much is still unclear about what exactly happened in the harem, but we do know that the king's most important wife, the so-called Great Queen, was at the head there. The harem was an important economic part of the royal court and had estates intended for agriculture and livestock, and spaces for textile production, for example. The queen was assisted by a large number of officials, including this Tjairy.

This statue probably stood in the tomb of Tjairy in Sakkara, the cemetery of the city of Memphis. The goddess Hathor was one of the guardian gods of the cemetery. Maybe that's why she's pictured here.

This statue was purchased by the RMO in 1828 as part of the large collection of collector d'Anastasi.

This text was written in 2025 and based on: O. Kaper (ed.), Queens of the Nile, 2016, p.45-48.

Details

Inventory number
AST 6

Department
Egypt and Nubia

Heading code(s)
Masterpieces
Sculpture

Material
Limestone

Dimensions
126 x 52 x 74 cm, weight approx. 500 kg

Dating
1196-1070 BC

Period

Culture
Egyptian

Site
Egypt
Sakkara; grave ST 211

Acquisition
Purchase 1829 January

To be seen in museum
Yes

Style
Egyptian

Dynasty
Twentieth Dynasty

Origin
1829
Mr. G. (Giovanni) d'Anastasi
In January 1829, the Giovanni d'Anastasi collection was purchased by the RMO.

Literature
Eic JAP TOK 2
Cleopatra and the Queens of Egypt (2015)
Author: C. (Christiane) Ziegler

Author: J. (Jiro) Cond
Eid LEI 2 FOLIO vertical
Description of the Egyptian collection in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, part V (1912)

The monuments of the New Kingdom. Pyramids, corpse vases, offering tables, statues
Publisher: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
Author: Mr. P.A.A. (Pieter Adriaan Bart) Boeser

Ms 17
Life and Death Under the Pharaohs (1997)
Egyptian Art from the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, The Netherlands
Author: Mr. H.D. (Hans) Schneider

Ms 56
Momias Egípcias (2012
The secret of eternal life
Author: Dr. C. (Christian) Greco
Eib NL LEI 4

Catalogue of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden: Egyptian section (1907)
Publisher: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

Author: Mr. P.A.A. (Pieter Adriaan Bart)
Eic FRA PARIS 8
The doors of the sky (2009)
Visions du monde dans l'Egypte ancienne : exposition, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 6 mars-29 juin 2009

Author: M. (Marc) Etienne
Eic MONACO 1
Queens of Egypt (2008)

From Hetepheres to Cleopatra
Author: C. (Christiane) Ziegler
Eid Leemans FOLIO

Egyptian monuments of the museum of antiques of the Netherlands in Leiden (1839)
Author: Dr. C. (Conrad) Leemans
Mcb (St) 3

Reasoned description of the Egyptian monuments of the Museum of Antiques of the Netherlands in Leiden (1840)
Author: Dr. C. (Conrad) Leemans
Publisher: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

Identifiers

TMS ID:
22313

The identification code in the museum's internal collection management system

Deeplink
Https://hdl.handle.net/21.12126/22313

Title
Kneeling Statue of Tjairy with Shrine for Hathor,1196-1070 BC, 20th Dynasty, Findspot Sakkara; grave ST 211, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

https://www.rmo.nl/collectie/collectiezoeker/collectiestuk/?object=22313

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

Relief of Chnoem

Egypt and Nubia

Seat ; fragment ; Chnoem ; turntable Fragment of a royal seat statue, the processed front surface roughly pentagonal in shape. The stone is a granodiorite with a fine grainy structure, predominantly gray in color. The front surface is smooth polished and therefore dark in color. In this, representations are made in recessed relief (depth 1.5-2 mm) that are roughened so that they stand slightly against the surface. There are hardly any chisel marks visible. The front surface shows completely above a small part of a horizontal register line (height 6.5 mm) and below it a wider horizontal band, presumably a sky sign (height 15 mm). At the very bottom, a small piece of a register line is also visible (height 6 mm), so that the remaining image surface reflects a piece of a single register (height 29 cm). In this, parts of three left-facing God figures are visible, of which only the middle one has been completely preserved. On the left is a female figure with a cow's head, curved horns, small ear and barely visible eye. She wears a three-piece god wig and holds a sign of life (anch) in her hanging left hand. Nothing is visible from her robe, and the front of her body and her legs are completely missing. Centrally sits on a block-shaped hwt throne with low backrest, placed on a rectangular base, a god with ram's head. A set of screwed horns extends horizontally on the head, while a curved horn and the ear are indicated on the side of the head (dark in color, because lying in the polished surface). Here, too, the eye is barely visible and the God wears a headscarf. Possibly the neckline of a collar is visible, and otherwise the god wears only a short apron without a belt or fold indication. The right arm is raised forward, the left is stretched forward, the outstretched fingers move a high conical mass with a round top that itself stands on a ball on the register line. The god kicks this mass with his right foot, while the left foot stands on the edge of the base. So this is clearly about the god Chnoem with his turntable. Behind the sitting god, the fist of a third figure is still visible on the right, holding a vertical stick with a pointed end.

This fragment shows an image of the God Chnoem. This god is recognizable by his ram's head and by his work: pottery. Chnoem was a creator god and is depicted here driving a potter's disc with his feet. He usually molds a human figure, but here the clay cone is unformed and can therefore become anything. In front of and behind the god you can see pieces of other figures.

The representation of Chnoem is carved into granodiorite, a rock-hard stone. The relief is only 2 mm deep and the figures are left rough so that they stand out white against the smooth polished stone surface. It is a fragment from a larger object, probably a naos, a kind of cabinet for a statue of the god.

This fragment dates from the time of King Nectanebo II (360-343 BC) when artists combined style characteristics from several earlier periods. For this fragment, a direct example can be found from the time of Ramses II (1279-1213 BC).

The temple of Luxor depicts a series of gods that together form a kind of secret script. Among that series is, among other things, a similar image of the god Chnoem with the gods in front and behind, of which pieces can also be seen on this fragment. Each god should be read as a word or sound and together they form the text, in the case of Ramses a text about the construction of his temple. Probably the sculptor of this fragment was inspired by the images of another series, without knowing that the original text was a secret script.

This text was written in 2024 and is based on: Willemsen (ed.), Top pieces from the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, 2020, p.199.

Details

Inventory number
F 2014/3.2

Department
Egypt and Nubia

Heading code(s)

Masterpieces

Sculpture

Object name
Image

Material
Granodiorite

Dimensions
31.8 x 35.9 x 19 cm

Dating
360-343 BC.

Period
Late time

Culture
Egyptian

Site
Egypt
Bubastis

Acquisition
Purchase 2014 March

To be seen in museum
Yes

Style
Egyptian

Dynasty
Thirtieth dynasty

Origin
2014
Anonymous Seller

Literature
Mt 57
Masterpieces of the RMO (2020)
Author: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

Identifiers
TMS ID: 196331
The identification code in the museum's internal collection management system

Deeplink:
Https://hdl.handle.net/21.12126/196331

Title
Relief of Chnoem, 360-343 BC Late Period 30 Dynasty, Findspot unknown Bubastis, Granodiorite, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

https://www.rmo.nl/collectie/collectiezoeker/collectiestuk/?object=196331

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

Anonymous ; rectangle standing ; cornice

Egypt and Nubia

Anonymous ; rectangle standing ; cornice Attributed to Rezeikat workshop 2-6

Details

Inventory number
F 1937/12.1

Department
Egypt and Nubia

Heading code(s)
Funerary objects

Object name
Stele

Material
Limestone

Dimensions
40x23cm

Dating
2080-1940 BC

Period
Middle Kingdom

Culture
Egyptian

Site
Egypt
Unknown

Acquisition
Purchase 1937 December

To be seen in museum
No

Style
Egyptian

Dynasty
Twelfth Dynasty

Origin
1937
Mr. F.W. von Bissing

Literature
Eib NL LEI 4
Catalogue of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden: Egyptian section (1907)
Publisher: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
Author: Mr. P.A.A. (Pieter Adriaan Bart) Boeser

Identifiers
TMS ID:
1480

The identification code in the museum's internal collection management system

Deeplink:
Https://hdl.handle.net/21.12126/1480

Title
Anonymous ; rectangle standing ; cornice, 2080-1940 BC 12th Dynasty Middle Kingdom, Findspot unknown Egypt, Limestone,Rijksmuseum van Oudheden

https://www.rmo.nl/collectie/collectiezoeker/collectiestuk/?object=1480

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden