Egypt Sightseeing by City

Egypt Maps & Destination

Transportation in Egypt

Weather in Egypt

Food

Egypt Statues:

Statues were very frequently enclosed in rectangular shrines or wall niches with an opening only in the front, making it natural for the statue to display frontality. Other statues were frequently placed in pillared courts, where they would typically be situated between pillars, and frontality worked perfectly for this context as well.

Most of the statues produced in ancient Egypt were made of stone, wood or metal. Stone statues were produced usually from a single rectangular block. Stone between the arms and the body, as well as between the legs in standing figures or the legs and the seat in seated ones, was commonly not cut away, adding to the strength of the physical sculpture. This method also added to the image of strength and power of the being depicted, and frequently the statue was "engaged" to the front of a pillar or column which added to this effect. 

Wooden statues, on the other hand, were generally carved from several pieces of wood and pegged together, while metal statues were either made by wrapping sheet metal around a wooden core or cast by the lost wax process. In these, the arms were sometimes held away from the body and could carry separate items in their hands. However, though wooden and metal sculptures have a completely different effect, altogether lighter and freer than their stone counterparts, they still display frontality.  

There was one other type of statuary aside from those depicting deities, kings and other elite members of society. These small statuettes depicted generic figures, frequently servants, from the non-elite population. Their function varied considerably from other statues, for these were made to put in tombs of the elite in order to serve the tomb owner in the afterlife. These funerary figurines depict a wide range of actions, from grinding grain to making music, while some are simply standing figures, depending on the time frame in which they were produced. They were not used in any cult, and are not meant to help perpetuate the existence of a particular person. In effect, they are merely a component of the overall funerary equipment placed in tombs for the benefit of the owner. Unlike formal statues, these were not limited to static poses. Depending on the activity in which they are engaged, they may be bending or squatting or take another position suitable to their work. In fact, it is the action and not the figure itself that is important.