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King Menkaura, the goddess Hathor,

and the deified Hare nome
Egyptian
Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Menkaura
2490–2472 B.C.
Findspot: Egypt, Giza, Menkaura Valley Temple

Medium/Technique
Greywacke
Dimensions
Width x height x depth x weight: 43.5 x 84.5 x 49 cm,
187.8 kg (17 1/8 x 33 1/4 x 19 5/16 in., 414.02 lb.)
Mount (Steel pallet sits on wooden reinforced
pedestal/4-steel clips): 10.2 x 62.5 x 64.8 cm (4 x 24
5/8 x 25 1/2 in.)
Case (wooden pedestal): 100.3 x 68.6 x 71.1 cm (39
1/2 x 27 x 28 in.)
Block (Plex-bonnet): 105.4 x 64.5 x 67 cm (41 1/2 x 25
3/8 x 26 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Detail: 3/4 right profile
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Expedition

← → Accession Number
09.200
NOT ON VIEW
Collections
Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
Classifications
Sculpture

Description
The sublime beauty of this triple statue masks the sophistication of its composition. The central and largest figure is
Hathor, an important goddess throughout Egyptian history associated with fertility, creation, birth, and rebirth. She was
the king's divine mother and protector. Here, she wears a headdress of cow's horns and a sun disk, but otherwise her
appearance is that of a human female, and she is depicted with the same hairstyle and garment as her earthly
counterparts.

Hathor embraces King Menkaura, who is standing to her left. He wears a crown symbolic of Upper Egypt (the Nile Valley)
and a wraparound kilt whose sharp pleats conform to the outline of his body. In his right hand he holds a mace, a weapon
frequently wielded by kings in relief, but until now not reproduced in stone sculpture. Here, artists solved the problem of
carving its thin and fragile shaft in the round by resting it on Hathor's throne. In Menkaura's left hand is a short implement
with a concave end; it is generally interpreted as a case for documents. Size corresponds to hierarchical position in
Egyptian art, and while visually Hathor and Menkaura appear to be the same height, the seated goddess is significantly
larger in scale. Like Menkaura's queen in the pair statue (pp. 86-87), Hathor's embrace is one of association, not
affection, and all three figures gaze impassively into a distant horizon.

The third and smallest figure is a goddess of lesser importance, associated not with the entire country, but with a single
district in Upper Egypt known as the Hare nome. It is symbolized by the rabbit standard she wears on her head. An artist
has cleverly merged the ankh sign she carries in her left hand with Hathor's throne. The Hare nome goddess, like Hathor
and Menkaura, exhibits a body proportioned according to the Old Kingdom ideal of beauty and is modeled with the
restrained elegance that makes this period a highpoint of Egyptian art.

The inscription on the sculpture's base clarifies the meaning of this complicated piece: "The Horus (Kakhet), King of
Upper and Lower Egypt, Menkaura, beloved of Hathor, Mistress of the Sycamore. Recitation: I have given you all good
things, all offerings, and all provisions in Upper Egypt, forever." It signifies that all the material goods produced in the Hare
nome will be presented to the king to sustain him in perpetuity. One theory suggests that eight such triads, each
featuring the king and Hathor with one of the other nome deities, were set up in Menkaura's Valley Temple.
Provenance
From Giza, Menkaura (Mycerinus) Valley Temple. 1908: excavated by the Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts
Expedition; 1909: awarded to the MFA by the government of Egypt.
(Accession Date: May 17, 1909)