The Head of Nefertem (also known as the Head from the Lotus Bloom or Tutankhamun as the Sun God) was found in the tomb of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

(

KV62 The tomb of Tutankhamun, also known by its tomb number, KV62, is the burial place of Tutankhamun (reigned c. 1334–1325 BC), a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb consists of four chambers a ...

) in the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

in West Thebes. It depicts the King (

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

) as a child and dates from the 18th Dynasty (

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

). The object received the find number of 8 and today is displayed with the inventory number JE 60723 in the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Discovery

The discovery of the Head of

Nefertem Nefertem (; possibly "beautiful one who closes" or "one who does not close"; also spelled Nefertum or Nefer-temu) was, in Egyptian mythology, originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world, who had arisen from the primal waters.Nefertem p ...

is controversial, since

Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the K ...

did not document the piece in his excavation journal. The Head was found in 1924 by

Pierre Lacau Pierre Lacau (25 November 1873 – 26 March 1963) was a French Egyptologist and philologist. He served as Egypt's director of antiquities from 1914 until 1936, and oversaw the 1922 discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the King ...

and Rex Engelbach in

KV4 KV4 is a tomb in the Valley of the Kings (Egypt). The tomb was initiated for the burial of Ramesses XI but it is likely that its construction was abandoned and that it was never used for Ramesses's interment. It also seems likely that Pinedjem I in ...

(the tomb of

Ramses XI Menmaatre Ramesses XI (also written Ramses and Rameses) reigned from 1107 BC to 1078 BC or 1077 BC and was the tenth and final pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt and as such, was the last king of the New Kingdom period. He ruled Egypt for ...

), which was used as a storehouse for the excavation efforts, among the bottles in a box of red wine. At this time, Carter was not in Egypt on account of the strike and closure of Tutankhamun's tomb and the withdrawal or cancellation of the excavation license of

Lord Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' havi ...

's widow Almina, Lady Carnarvon. Carter later stated that he had found the head among the rubble in the entry corridor of KV62. In his first season of excavations, the head was not mentioned; at the time Carter only noted partially broken and full-standing

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

vessels and vases of painted clay in the entrance-way. There is not even photographic documentation of the head in the excavation journal as there is for other pieces found in the tomb. These facts not only led to further disputes in the study of Egyptian antiquities, but also aroused the suspicion in some quarters to this day that Carter had attempted to steal the head.

Description

The partially damaged head of Nefertem is carved out of wood and is high. The stucco coating is painted red, though large sections have been damaged; Carter attributed this to its seizure by Egyptian authorities in 1924. The eyebrows, the typically Egyptian

kohl Kohl may refer to: *Kohl (cosmetics), an ancient eye cosmetic *Kohl (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. ...

eye liner, and the pupils of the bust were painted in dark blue. The head of the king is completely shaved, but shaven stubble in the form of black paint is visible. The head has Tutankhamun's facial features and depicts him as a child. As on his golden deathmask, Tutankhamun's ears are pierced. Of all the artefacts found to date, this head is the only depiction of him as a child.Peter Munro: ''Tutanchamun als Sonnengott.'' In the exhibition catalogue ''Tutanchamun in Köln.'' p. 140.

Significance

The sculpture depicts the Pharaoh in the guise of

, the god of the dawning sun. The child-god

springs from a blue lotus, which was associated with the revival of the Sun in the morning because its buds close at night and reopen at dawn. The blue base of the bust symbolises the primordial waters from which the sun rose at the beginning of creation. The Pharaoh was closely associated with the Sun, but the depiction of him in the guise of this particular solar deity was meant to magically guarantee that the Pharaoh would be reborn once more, just as the Sun is reborn at dawn.

In Egyptian art

Like the depictions of the daughters of

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

and

Nefertiti Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in whic ...

found at

Tell el-Amarna Amarna (; ar, العمارنة, al-ʿamārnah) is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, buil ...

, the head of Nefertem has the elongated head and neck wrinkles typical of

Amarna art Amarna art, or the Amarna style, is a style adopted in the Amarna Period during and just after the reign of Akhenaten (r. 1351–1334 BC) in the late Eighteenth Dynasty, during the New Kingdom. Whereas Ancient Egyptian art was famously slow to ...

. This suggests that the creation of the head occurred during the

Amarna period The Amarna Period was an era of History of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian history during the later half of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten ('Horizon of the ...

. The depiction of the king as a child is among the most beautiful of all

Egyptian art Ancient Egyptian art refers to art produced in ancient Egypt between the 6th millennium BC and the 4th century AD, spanning from Prehistoric Egypt until the Christianization of Roman Egypt. It includes paintings, sculpture ...

from the end of the 18th Dynasty. The head of Nefertem has been exhibited in travelling exhibitions of selected original finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun, including, among others, the Treasures of Tutankhamun (1972–1981).Exhibition catalogue ''Tutanchamun in Köln.'' von Zabern, Mainz 1980, .

References

Bibliography

Zahi Hawass Zahi Abass Hawass ( ar, زاهي حواس; born May 28, 1947) is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, serving twice. He has also worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Wes ...

. ''The Head of Nefertem.'' (= ''King Tutankhamun. The Treasures Of The Tomb.'') Thames & Hudson, London 2007, , p. 16. *

Thomas Hoving Thomas Pearsall Field Hoving (January 15, 1931 – December 10, 2009) was an American museum executive and consultant and the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Early life He was born in New York City to Walter Hoving, the head of Ti ...

. ''Tutankhamun: The Untold Story.'' 1980. Rowman & Littlefield (reprint, 2002). . *

T. G. H. James Thomas Garnet Henry James, (8 May 1923 – 16 December 2009), known as Harry James, was a British Egyptologist, epigrapher, and museum curator. He is best known for his career long association with the British Museum, serving with the Department ...

. ''Tutankhamun.'' White Star, 2000, . Metro Books, 2002, . * Peter Munro. "Tutanchamun als Sonnengott." In the exhibition catalogue ''Tutanchamun in Köln.'' von Zabern, Mainz 1980, , pp. 140–141. * M. V. Seton-Williams: ''Tutanchamun. Der Pharao. Das Grab. Der Goldschatz.'' Ebeling, Luxembourg 1980, , p. 120.

External links

* The

Griffith Institute The Griffith Institute is an Egyptological institution based in the Griffith Wing of the Sackler Library and is part of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, England. It was founded for the advancement of Egyptology and Ancient Nea ...

, Oxford
''Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation. The Howard Carter Archives.'' "Head of the King", Carter No. 008
{{Tutankhamun Archaeological artifacts Sculptures of ancient Egypt 14th-century BC works Busts in Egypt Egyptian Museum