International Journal of Engineering and Techniques - Volume 2 Issue 6, Nov – Dec 2016

RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS

Mechanical Engineering in Ancient Egypt, Part XXXIV: Stone

Statues Industry (11th to 17th Dynasties)
Galal Ali Hassaan
Department of Mechanical Design & Production, Faculty of Engineering,
Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

Abstract:
This paper is the 34th research paper in a series investigating the evolution of mechanical engineering in ancient Egypt.
It tries to achieve this purpose through investigating the production of ancient Egyptians stone statues during the era from the
11th to the 17th Dynasties. Each stone statue is presented chronically with present location if known and with engineering
analysis showing its creativity. The stones used in producing the statues are assigned.

Keywords — Mechanical engineering, ancient Egypt; stone statues; 11th to 17th Dynasties.

King Senwosret III from the 12th Dynasty [3].

I. INTRODUCTION
Ancient Egyptians produced wonderful
stone statues for their Kings, Officials and even
servants to authorise their role and existence in the
ancient Egyptian society. They mastered this
industry and left statues from different types of
stones with sizes ranging from miniature to huge
and located them in Tombs and Temples. This is
the second paper in this aspect where the first paper
covered stone statues from Naqada II to the Old
Kingdom.
Alerd (1950) in his book about the Middle
Kingdom art in ancient Egypt presented stone
statues from the 11th, 12th and 13th Dynasties most
of them from the 12th Dynasty [1]. Smith (1960) in
his book about ancient Egyptians as represented in
the Museum of Fine Arts at Boston presented some
stone statues such as the granite head of Lady
Sennuwy from the 12th Dynasty, Statue of Senostris
III from the 12th Dynasty and the statue of
Amenhotep III and head of Tutankhamun from the
18th Dynasty [2]. Watts (1998) in his resources for
educators about the art of the ancient Egyptians
presented the limestone head of Pharaoh
Tutankhamun wearing the Blue Crown from the
18th Dynasty, the grandiosite setting statue of
Pharaoh Horemheb and his wife from Late 18th
Dynasty , the limestone statue Yuny and his wife
from Early 18th Dynasty and a Gneiss sphinx of
Teeter, Alexander and Greuel (2001) in their work
about art of the Mediterranean world presented the
granite head of an official from the 13th Dynasty
and the basalt stattue of Shebenbu from the 26th
Dynasty [4].
Magdolen (2002) studied the existence of
two fragments of a statue in the City Museum
Bratislava. He discussed some of the conclusions
presented by Mr. Josef Hudec in his paper
presented in the 8th International Congress of
Egyptologists in Cairo [5]. Teeter (2003) in her
book about the treasures from the collections of the
Oriental Institute of Chicago presented selections
First Intermediate Period, Middle Kingdom, New
Kingdom, Third Intermediate Period, Late Period
and Ptolmaic-Roman Periods. Among her
presentations are statue from the 18th Dynasty,
quartzite statue of Pharaoh Tutankhamun from the
18th Dynasty and a limestone statue of a Priest from
the 22nd – 25th Dynasties Period [6]. Bard (2007) in
her book about the archaeology of ancient Egypt
presented a statue for King Mentuhotep II from the
11th Dynasty [7]. Sadikoglu (2007) in her book
about the ancient Egyptian art influences on modern
time through history presented stone statues from
the Karnak Temple at Luxor, statue of Priest
Imhotep, statue of Queen Hatshepsut at Amun
Temple, sphinx statue of a king, statues of
Memmon at Thebes, statue of Myretamun, daughter

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 International Journal of Engineering and Techniques - Volume 2 Issue 6, Nov – Dec 2016
of Pharaoh Ramses II, stattue of Pinudjem, Priest of
Amun Temple, block statue of Amun-Re Re in Karnak,
bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten, statue of Seneb and his
family, statue of Thutmose IV and his wife, statue
of Amenhotep III and his wife and statue of Ramses
II and his wife Nefertari in Hator Temple [8].
Brooklyn Museum (2011) arranged an
exhibition for over 120 collections of its Egyptian
treasures. The collections included statues and
covered a time span from 3650 BC to 365 CE [9].
Pienoski (2016) in her Master of Arts thesis about
he historical evolution of the Cleveland Museum of
Art's Egyptian collectiob presented a number of
stone statues
ues such as the statue of Pharaoh
Amenhotep III from the 18th Dynasty [10].
Wikipedia (2016) wrote an article about block
statues emerged in the Middle Kingdom of ancient
Egypt and continued to the Late Period. As an
example they presented the block statue of Official
Senwosret from the 12th Dynasty [11]. Hassaan
(2016) investigated the evolution of mechanical
engineering in ancient Egypt through studying
study the
industry of stone statues during the time span from
Naqada II to the Old Kingdom Periods. He
presented
ted a large number of stone statues including
singe, pair and group statues for classes from
Pharaohs to servants. He outlined the characteristics
of each statue [12].
II. MIDDLE KINGDOM
The Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt
includes the 11th and 12th Dynasties
es over a time
span from 2050 to 1800 BC [13]. Stone statues
have achieved great development during the Old
Kingdom [12]. Here, we will show how this
industry was developed during the Middle
Kingdom through a number of presentations from
both 11th and 12th Dynasties:
- Fig.1 shows a limestone statue for Steward
Meri (2124-1981
1981 BC) in display in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art at NY [14].
The designer showed Meri setting and
putting both arms crossed on his chest,
wearing a short Schenti and a nicely
decorated Khat headdress and having a light
moustache as clear in the zoomed view in
Fig.1.
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Fig.1 Limestone statue of Meri from the 11th
Dynasty [14].].
- The second example of stone statues in the
11th Dynasty is for King Mentuhotep II, the
5th King of the dynasty ((2061-2010 BC). It
is carved from sandstone, has a height of
2.53 m, in display in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and shown in Fig.2 [15].
The King is standing wearing a short
Schenti, a cloak and a Modius Crown. He is
putting both hands crossed on his chest with
holded palm.
- The third example is again for King
Mentuhotep II which is a painted limestone
statue in display in the Egyptian Museum at
Cairo and shown in Fig.3 [16]. The King
here is shown setting wearing a white cloak
and the Red Crown of Lower Egypt. Here
also he is holding his hands while crossed
on his chest.
- The fourth example of stone statues in the
Middle Kingdom is a quartzite statue for
Sealer Nemtihotep from the 12th Dynasty
(1981-1802
1802 BC) in display in the
Metropolitan Museum, of 0.765 m height
and shown in Fig.4 [17]. The Sealer is
shown wearing a long Schenti, cloak rapped
around his hands and a decorated Nemes-
Nemes
like headdress. Even though the quartzite
stone is one of the hardest
ardest rocks, ancient
Egyptians could carve it to the accuracy and
high quality shown in Fig.4.
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Nemtihotep and putting his two hands on his
legs holding an object by the right
ri palm and
extending the fingers of the left hand.

Fig.2 Sandstone statue of Fig.3 Limestone statue

Mentuhotep II [15] of Mentuhotep II [16].
Fig.5 Statue of Sehetepibreankh from the
12thDynasty [18].

- The sixth example is a granite statue for

Fig.4 Statue of Sealer Nemtihotep from the 12th
Dynasty [17].
- The fifth example is a limestone statue for
Steward Sehetepibreankh from the 12th
Dynasty (1919-1885
1885 BC) in display in the
Metropolitan Museum,, having an 0.945 m
height and shown in Fig.5 [18]. The
designer showed the Steward setting,
wearing a short Schenti, decorated Nemes
headdress similar to this in Fig.4 for Sealer
(1870-1831 BC), the 5th
King Senusret III (1870
th
King of the 12 Dynasty in display in the
Brooklyn Museum at NY and shown in
Fig.6 [19]. The designer showed the King
wearing a short decorated Schenti and a
Nemes headdress, putting his hands on his
legs in a pose similar to that shown in Fig.5.
- The seventh example is a red granite head
for King Senusret III in display in Luxor
Museum and shown in Fig.7 [20]. The King
is shown wearing the White Crown of
Upper Egypt.
- The eighth example is granodiorite statue
for King Amenemhat III, the 6th King of the
12th Dynasty in display in the Claveland
Museum of Art having an 0.512 m height
and shown in Fig.8 8 [21]. The designer
showed the King standing with his hands
extending downward and wearing a

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 International Journal of Engineering and Techniques - Volume 2 Issue 6, Nov – Dec 2016
decorated short Schenti, a belt and a
decorated Nemes headdress.
- The last example of stone statues produced
during the Middle Kingdom is a quartzite
block statue for Senwosret-Senebefny
Senebefny from
Late 12th Dynasty (1836-1759 1759 BC) in
display in the Brooklyn Museum and shown
in Fig.9 [22]. The designer showed the
owner of the statue setting on the ground
and putting both hands on his legs under a
cloak and wearing a Khat headdress while
his wife is standing in front of his legs.
Fig.6 Statue of Senusret III Fig.7 Head of Senusret III
From 12th Dynasty [19] From 12th Dynasty [20]
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III. SECOND INTERMEDIATE
NTERMEDIATE PERIOD
The Second Intermediate Period of ancient
Egypt covers the 13th to 17th Dynasties over a time
span from 1802 to 1550 BC [23]. The examples of
stone statues available from this period are all from
the 13th Dynasty presented as follows:
- The first example is a diabase,
diabase 0.35 m
height statue for King Neferhotep I, the 25th
King of the 13th Dynasty in display in the
Archaeological Museum of Bolognat, Italy
and shown in Fig.10 [2424]. Even though the
diabase is one of the hardest stone, the
ancient Egyptian carver mastered
maste carving it
and produced a setting statue for the King
with his hands on his legs, wearing a short
Schenti and a Nemes Crown. The statue is
shining meaning it was well polished.
Fig.10 Statue of King Neferhotep I from the 13th
].
Dynasty [24].
- The second example is a diorite statue for
King Sobekhotep IV (1732-1720
(1732 BC), the
27th King of the 13th Dynasty in display in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art and shown
in Fig.11 [25]. The designer using a hard
stone produced a wonderful statue for the
King wearing the standard short Schenti
with belt and tail wearing a decorated
Nemes headdress and putting his two hands
on his thighs.
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The designer shoed the King kneeling,
wearing the standard short Schenti with belt and tail
and wearing a nicely decorated Nemes headdress as
clear from his zoomed view.
- The fourth example is a statue for King
Mentuhotep of Upper Egypt (1585 BC)
from the 16th Dynasty of Thebes in display
in the British Museum and shown in Fig.13
[27]. The King is wearing a standard fashion
of the Kings
ings since the Old Kingdom. The
Schenti is short and decorated with belt and
front tail, the Nemes headdress is decorated
and his hands are extending downwards and
holding an object.

Fig.11 Statue of King Sobekhotep IV from the 13th

Dynasty [25].

- The third example is a granite statue for

King Sobekhotep V, the 28th King of the
13th Dynasty in display in the Neues
Museum at Berlin and shown in Fig.12 [26].

Fig.13 Statue of King Mentuhotep from the 16th

Dynasty [27].
].

- The fifth and last example from the 2nd

Intermediate Period is a limestone statue of
1550 BC) from the 17th
Siamun (1580-1550
Dynasty in display in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and shown in Fig.14
Fig.1 [28].
The designer showed him setting on a
backless chair, wearing a short Schenti and
a decorated Khat headdress as clear in the
zoomed view in Fig.14.

Fig.12 Statue of King Sobekhotep V from the 13th

Dynasty [26].

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Fig.14 Limestone statue of Siamun from the 17th
Dynasty [28].
VI. CONCLUSIONS
- Ancient Egyptians were pioneers in
producing stone statues.
- They authorized the history of Kings, high
officials and lower-rankrank people through
stone statues set in Temples and Tombs.
- During the 11th to 17th Dynasties of ancient
Egypt they used a number of Egyptia Egyptian
stones in carving their statues such as:
limestone, sandstone, quartzite, granite,
granodiorite, diabase and diorite
diorite.
- The ancient Egyptians could carve statues
using very hard stones such as: granite, grani
diabase and quartzite.
- The ancient Egyptians during the era under
study designed stone statues in different
positions such as: setting on chairs statues,
setting on the ground status, standing statues
and kneeling statues.
- The statue arms took different
differen positions
such as: Extending vertically with opened
palm in standing statues, holding objects in
each palm, crossing arms on the chest in
setting on chair statues and holding the
knees by both hands in block statues
statues.
- The designer was keen to present the statue
owner with his favourable headdress
including: Khat, Modius, Red Crown,
Nemes, Nemes-likelike and White Crown
Crown.
- The men dressing through this era as
depicted by the stone statues presented was
the short Schenti, either plain or decorated..
decorated.
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- Some statues appeared with the owner
holding an ointment jar in his hand.
hand
- All the Royal Nemes were decorated and
carrying the Copra icon on its front
front-top end.
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18. Metropolitan Museum, Seated statue of the Steward  Has got his Ph.D. in 1979 from Bradford
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BIOGRAPHY

Galal Ali Hassaan

 Emeritus Professor of System Dynamics
and Automatic Control.
 Has got his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Cairo
University in 1970 and 1974.

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