Saturday, 27 April 2024 PL EN | |

 

Death and life in Ancient Egypt


The king and officials

Sculptures, reliefs and wall paintings were intended not only to present the reality; they carried the power to create it, and this ‘magical’ function was in fact much more important. A king shown during the performance of rituals connected with the worship of gods did not perform a singular act but ensured its eternal recurrence. Statues and figurines representing the rulers and high officials were linked by one idea: the belief in a possibility of ‘inhabiting’ the sculptures by the spiritual entity that the dead had become. Identification of the statue did not rely on facial features but was achieved through the names and titles inscribed on the sculpture.

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