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King Ny-user-ra
ca. 2390 BCE-2360 BCEOld Kingdom (2686-2125 BCE)
32 1/8 x 9 3/8 x 15 3/8 in. (81.6 x 23.8 x 39.1 cm)
Egyptian artist
Egypt
Object Type:
Sculpture
Medium and Support:
Upper half of red granite; lower half of toned plaster
Credit Line:
R. T. Miller Fund
Accession Number:
1942.54
Location: Currently on view
This figure of King Ny-user-ra wears a royal striped linen headdress and carries a mace—a symbol of power—in his right hand. His name means “the one who belongs to the god Ra.” Ra, one of the earliest and most powerful Egyptian gods, was associated with the sun. The sculpture was probably buried in the King’s tomb to serve as the repository for Ny-user-ra’s ka, or life force.
[Gallery label text, 2009]
The Memorial Art Gallery’s bust of an Egyptian king of the Old Kingdom was unidentified until Bernard Bothmer, a prominent Egyptologist, realized that the Gallery’s sculpture matched the lower part of a statue in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo. On the base of the Cairo portion, in front of the right foot, is a cartouche (see diagram) naming King Ny-user-ra, who ruled from 2390 to 2360 BCE. A plaster cast was made of this lower fragment and attached to the Gallery’s bust. The king wears a royal striped linen headdress and carries in his right hand a mace, a symbol of power. The red granite statue had been tossed into a refuse dump in ancient times at the Temple of Amon at Karnak, where this and other fragments were excavated in 1904. This is one of only two known portraits inscribed with Ny-user-ra’s name.
[Gallery label text, 2004]
[Gallery label text, 2009]
The Memorial Art Gallery’s bust of an Egyptian king of the Old Kingdom was unidentified until Bernard Bothmer, a prominent Egyptologist, realized that the Gallery’s sculpture matched the lower part of a statue in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo. On the base of the Cairo portion, in front of the right foot, is a cartouche (see diagram) naming King Ny-user-ra, who ruled from 2390 to 2360 BCE. A plaster cast was made of this lower fragment and attached to the Gallery’s bust. The king wears a royal striped linen headdress and carries in his right hand a mace, a symbol of power. The red granite statue had been tossed into a refuse dump in ancient times at the Temple of Amon at Karnak, where this and other fragments were excavated in 1904. This is one of only two known portraits inscribed with Ny-user-ra’s name.
[Gallery label text, 2004]
Provenance
Vladimir G. Simkhovitch (1874-1959), New York; purchased from him by the Gallery in 1942
Keywords
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Additional Images
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Around the World in Rochester 2/8/1952 - 3/2/1952
- Focus on Faces 1967
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Susan Dodge Peters, ed. Memorial Art Gallery: An Introduction to the Collection. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery in association with Hudson Hills Press, 1988.
- Article Title: Egyptian Sculptures. Article Scope: Article. Memorial Art Gallery. Gallery Notes. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995. Volume Number: 9, Issue Number: 1. Issue Date: October 1943.
- Article Scope: Reproduction only. Rochester Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester Handbook. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 1961.
- Article Author: Lyons, Sheridan. Article Title: Togetherness for a King. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, NY: Rochester Print Co. Issue Date: December 31, 1971.
- Docent Newsletter. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery
- Brighton-Pittsford Post. Pittsford, NY
- Article Title: Split King. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Time Magazine. New York, NY Issue Date: June 21, 1971. Page Number: 53
- Rochester Review. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press
- The New York Times. New York, NY: H.J. Raymond & Co
- Article Scope: Mention. Elizabeth Brayer. Magnum Opus: The Story of the Memorial Art Gallery, 1913-1988. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1988.
- Article Author: Hoene, Anne. Article Title: A Balanced Collection. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Art Gallery Magazine. Ivoryton, CT: Wm. C. Bendig Volume Number: XI, Issue Number: 10. Issue Date: Summer 1968. Page Number: 16
- Dietrich Wildung. Ni-user-Rê, Sonnenkönig-Sonnengott. München: Staatliche Sammlung Ägyptischer Kunst, 1984.
- Bernard V. Bothmer. The Karnak statue of Ny-user-ra (Membra dispersa IV). Mainz/Rhein : P. von Zabern, 1974.
- Article Author: Pikrone, Mary Anne. Article Title: Ancient 'King' Gets It Together. Article Scope: Article and reproduction. Times-Union. Rochester, NY: Gannett Issue Date: December 30, 1971.
- Article Scope: Entry and reproduction. Sally B. Johnson. The Cobra Goddess of Ancient Egypt: Predynastic, Early Dynastic, and Old Kingdom Periods. London, England: Kegan Paul International, 1990.
- University Record. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester
- Scene. Rochester, NY: Arts & Cultural Council, 1969-1976.
- Article Scope: Mention. Jacques Vandier. Manuel d'Archéologie Égyptienne. Paris, France: Éditions A. et J. Picard et Cie., 1958. Volume Number: 3
- Article Author: Gilli, Barbara. Article Title: The Past in the Present: the Reuse of Ancience Material in the 12th Dynasty. Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Aegyptus. Volume Number: 89 Issue Date: 2009. Page Number: 100-101, Figure Number: 6, p. 101
- Compte rendus des séances. Paris, France: Academie des Inscriptions & Belles-Lettres
- Lilian Postel. Protocole des Souverains Éyptiens et Dogme Monarchique au Débout du Moyen Empire: Des Premiers Antef au Débout du Règne d'Amenemhat Ier. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2004.
- Luc Gabolde and Jean-Claude Goyon. Hommages à Jean-Claude Goyon: Offerts pour son 70è Anniversaire. Cairo, Egypt: Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 2008.
- Article Author: Gabolde, Luc. Article Title: Une Statue de la IIIe Dynastie dans les Reserve du C.S.A. à Karnak. Article Scope: Mention. Zahi A. Hawass and Mamdouh Mohamed Eldamaty. Egyptian Museum Collections around the World. Studies for the Centennial of the Egyptian Museum. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press, 2002. Page Number: 437 ff.26
- Article Author: Freed, Rita E.. Article Title: An Addition to the Corpus of Old Kingdom Royal Statuary. Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Wege öffnen: Festschrift für Rolf Gundlach zum 65. Geburtstag. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1996. Page Number: 50-51, Figure Number: 2a
- Article Scope: Mention and reproduction. Marjorie Searl and Lu Harper. The Memorial Art Gallery: 100 Years. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 2013.
- Article Title: King Nyuserre. Article Scope: Chapter and reproduction. Miroslav Verner. Abusir XXVIII: The Statues of Raneferef and the Royal Sculpture of the Fifth Dynasty. Prague: Charles University, 2017. Page Number: 52-65, Figure Number: P. 1.3.2.7 - 1.3.2.10, pp. 62-65
Portfolio List
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This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Web Links
See links to web pages and lesson plans
Odyssey Online
In this award-winning website for students, play a matching game & discover the history of the two pieces of this statue--how the top half came to the Memorial Art Gallery, and how the bottom half was discovered in an Egyptian Museum.
MAGexplore
MAGexplore provides in-depth information and close looking at over 200 objects in MAG's collection.
Cachette de Karnak
Database of objects found in the cour de cachette at Karnak, which includes the base (at the Cairo Museum) and presumably also the bust (from MAG's collection).