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{{Short description|Egyptian Middle Kingdom memorial statue}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2008}}
[[File:Block statue Pa-Akh-Ra CdM.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Block-statue of Pa-Ankh-Ra, ship master, bearing a statue of [[Ptah]]. [[Late Period of Ancient Egypt|Late Period]], ca. 650–633 BC, Cabinet des Médailles.]]

The '''block statue''' is a type of [[memorial]] statue that first emerged in the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]].<ref>Bernard V. Bothmer. ''Egyptian Art: Selected Writings of Bernard V. Bothmer.'' Edited by Madeleine E. Cody, with Paul Edmund Stanwick and Marsha Hill. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.</ref> The block statue grew in popularity in the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] and the [[Third Intermediate Period]], and by the [[Late Period of ancient Egypt|Late Period]], this type of statue was the most common. These statues were used in temples typically as funerary monuments of non-royal yet important individuals.<ref>''Egyptian Sculpture of the Late Period, 700 B.C. to A.D. 100.'' Edited by [[Elizabeth Titzel Riefstahl|Elizabeth Riefstahl]]. New York: John B. Watkins Company, 1960.</ref> According to primary sources from the New Kingdom, the posture of the statue was possibly intended to resemble a guardian seated in the gateway of a temple.<ref>Ian Shaw. ''The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt.'' "Block Statue." New York: Harris N. Abrams, 1995.</ref> In addition, their simple shape provided ample flat surfaces for inscriptions of offerings and invocations.

Block statues consist of a man squatting with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms folded on top his knees. Often, these men are wearing a "wide cloak" that reduces the body of the figure to a simple block-like shape.<ref>Bothmer, 94.</ref> Most of the detail is reserved for the head of the individual being depicted. In some instances the modeling of the limbs has been retained by the sculptor.<ref>Shaw, "Block Statue."</ref> There are two basic types of block statues: ones with the feet completely covered by the cloak and ones with the feet uncovered.<ref>''Late Period'', 4-5.</ref>

In 1903, more than 350 block statues were discovered by the French archaeologist [[Georges Legrain]] as part of the "Karnak cachette".<ref>Schulz, Regine, 2011, [http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3f23c0q9 ''Block Statue'' (PDF file).] In Willeke Wendrich (ed.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles.</ref>

== History of the Egyptian block statue ==
In Egypt, statues of the seated [[scribe]] appear as long ago as the [[First dynasty of Egypt|1st Dynasty]].  Seated scribe statues evolved over time and some also came to incorporate, [[Thoth]], or the [[Thoth|baboon]] (as the scribal god), into the statue presentation.  So, also the complexities of the block statue developed, and evolved. Combinational themes became common, and likewise abbreviated, (simpler, and less costly, – detailed), also developed.

Examples of the statue for [[Senemut]], of [[Hatshepsut|Queen Hatshepsut's]] reign, have extensive stories in hieroglyphs. They also have the added head of the child [[Neferure]] upon the top surface.  They are finely executed, in a medium or high finish. As an example of the Block statue, Senemut's is one of the typical types:
:a story of the honored individual on the front surface;
:a presentation of the individual, in statue form (in this case with an additional, lesser individual);
:a [[Literature|theme]].  For Senemut, his theme appears to be: ''His honoring, His personal story, and the lesser individual, who was his responsibility.''

== Historical magic: the seated statue "stands up" ==
Since the Egyptian belief system contained concepts framed in a world of [[Magic (paranormal)|magic]] and a formal framework of [[Art|art expression]], the ''block statue'' had a magical purpose.  Obviously ideas evolved, but eventually the idea came for the statue that it was always – seated in place, and at a moments notice, the individual could stand erect and "go out into the day." This concept is quite similar to the [[Book of the Dead]], where the individual is:
:returning, and entering..(to/from cemetery Neter-Khert)..the daily returning for events wonderful, to the loved, created habits, (all), sitting in the Hall, [[Senet]]-playing... returning as a living-soul ([[Egyptian soul|Ba]]), Chapter VII, lines 1-3.5.  (The Book of the Dead, subtitle: The Coming Forth by Day.)
The deceased individual Egyptian person returns each day, to perform their usual daily life duties.  It is also equivalent to the earlier concept of the [[false door]], where the [[Egyptian soul|ba-soul]] returned each day, to find the food offering.

== Block statue: examples ==
{{Hiero|God's Priest[top/1st] for Amun — BakenKhonsu|<hiero>R8-U36-T8-S3-M17-Y5:,:N35-.-V31:G29-N35:Aa1:N35-M23</hiero>|align=right|era=egypt}}

The following examples are found in the Ref. Section that follows:

*Block statue for [[Bakenkhonsu]], (Bak, eN, [[Chons]], nsu), who was "High Priest of Amun", for [[Ramesses II]], who possibly usurped this block statue.  See Ramses II Ref.
*Block statue of Satepihu, from [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]], [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|18th Dynasty]].  Extensive hieroglyphs: horizontal, front; vertical columns on sides. See Wilkinson Ref., pg 30.
{{Hiero|Common – shaped<br /> shrine-(frontal) --- or [[Naos (hieroglyph)|Naos]]-(side)|<hiero>O21-(frontO21)-,-(also)-O18-(naosO18)</hiero>|align=right|era=egypt}}
*Block statue for the [[scribe]] Rey. A lesser statue; it has few hieroglyphs, but the front surface has him holding a [[Sistrum|sistraform]] shrine (a ''[[Naos (hieroglyph)|naos]]'').<ref>Reading Egyptian Art, Wilkinson, p 212.</ref>
*Block statue of [[Vizier]] Khay, [[Karnak]], [[Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt|19th Dynasty]]. This Block statue fuses the form of the Block statue with that of "shrine" (Shrine #1, Upper Egyptian Shrine). The lintel base, has a single row of [[Egyptian hieroglyph|hieroglyphs]], that extend to the left and to the right (starting at front, center).<ref>Reading Egyptian Art, Wilkinson, p 140.</ref>
*Block statue of [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|12th Dynasty]] official, [[Senusret III|Senwosret]]-senebefni, in medium brown quartzite. Originally the statue was brought to France by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]], in 1799; it is now located at the [[Brooklyn Museum]].  The statue has an extensive [[Egyptian hieroglyph|hieroglyphic story]], and a lesser statue of his wife at the front, base.  See Reeves Ref., pg. 14.
*Block statue of [[Senemut]] and Princess [[Neferure]], [[Hatshepsut|Queen Hatshepsut's]] daughter, –[[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|18th Dynasty]], height 1.005 m, medium to deep ''black granite,'' high to extreme polish.  Extensive hieroglyphic story: sides, front, top, and the tops of feet, at front base.  (Front: 7 horizontal '[[Register (sculpture)|registers]]', and 6 vertical to the feet.)  See Hagen Ref., pg. 60.
*Block statue of Amenemhet, [[Amenemhat II]] (?), –[[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|18th Dynasty]], height 0.8 m, dk granite, high polish.  Front: eight (8) horizontal registers of hieroglyphs.  See Hagen Ref., pg 101.

<gallery>
Image:S F-E-Cameron Scribe British Museum.JPG|Statue of a scribe, [[British Museum]]
Image:W%C3%BCrfelfigur Senenmut.jpg|[[Senemut]]
Image:%C3%84gyptisches Museum Leipzig 217.jpg|18th dynasty
Image:Statue cube de Pa-di-Chahdedet 56.jpg|A 26th dynasty army general, Pa-di-Chahdedet
File:Egypte louvre 112 statue.jpg|Block statue for Khay, Scribe for the general staff, showing titulary god of the [[scribe]], [[Thoth]]-(a baboon)
File:Haroua.JPG|[[Harwa]], attendant to the [[Divine Adoratrice of Amun]], [[Amenirdis I]]
File:Block statue of Hor Ägyptisches Museum Berlin.jpg|Block statue made from greywacke, 23rd Dynasty, 775 BC
File:Statue of Bakenkhonsu 2017-09-12.jpg|Block statue of [[Bakenkhonsu]]
</gallery>

=== Block statue: (photos) ===
*[http://www.narod-sobe.cz/clovek/kultura/umeni/vytvarne_umeni/Egypt/Satepihu.jpe Image], [http://www.narod-sobe.cz/clovek/kultura/umeni/vytvarne_umeni/Egypt/ Article]; BlkStatue: Ruiu
*[http://www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/images/color/03/04.jpg Block Statue of Senemut] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928020804/http://www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/images/color/03/04.jpg |date=2013-09-28 }}; [http://www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/html/chapter12.htm Article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808212900/http://www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/html/chapter12.htm |date=2013-08-08 }}, see: [[Senemut]]

== References ==
<references/>
{{commons category|Block statues of Egypt}}
*Freed, Rita; Denver Museum; Egyptian Antiq. Org. ''[[Ramesses II|Ramses II]], The Great Pharaoh And His Time,'' Rita E. Freed, Denver Museum of Natural History, (2nd Printing for Denver), (Printed: Lithographic Printing Co., City of Memphis, TN), c 1987.
*Hagen, R. Hagen, R. ''Egypt: People, Gods, Pharaohs,'' Rose-Marie & Rainer Hagen, (Barnes and Noble Books, New York), c 2003, (originally: Taschen, GmbH, Koln, c 2003, 1999); pg. 60; pg. 101.
*Reeves, Nicholas. ''Ancient Egypt, The Great Discoveries, a Year-by-Year Chronicle,'' Nicholas Reeves, (Thames and Hudson Ltd, London), c 2000. See pgs 14-17, '''1799, The [[Rosetta Stone]]: Cracking the [[Egyptian hieroglyph|Hieroglyphic]] Code,''' ''1799 The Tomb of Amenophis III, 1799 [[Denon's Papyrus]].''
*Wilkinson, Richard. ''[[Reading Egyptian Art: A Hieroglyphic Guide to Ancient Egyptian Painting and Sculpture]],'' Richard H. Wilkinson, with 450 Illustrations, (Thames & Hudson Ltd, London), c 1992. Uses: '''[[Gardiner's Sign List]]'''; (for Hieroglyphs).

== External links ==
*[http://www.brooklynmuseum.org Brooklyn Museum website]
*[http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225200&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225200&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500776&fromDept=true&baseIndex=17&bmUID=1170810231225&bmLocale=en Louvre block statue of ''Wahibre''-(Wah,ib,re)] [[Louvre]] statue.<br />Enlarge in Window; accessed 6 February 2007.
*[http://www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/images/color/03/04.jpg Block Statue of Senemut] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928020804/http://www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/images/color/03/04.jpg |date=2013-09-28 }}; [http://www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/html/chapter12.htm Article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808212900/http://www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/discovered/html/chapter12.htm |date=2013-08-08 }}, see: [[Senemut]]
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/82622/rec/1 Hatshepsut: from Queen to Pharaoh], a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on block statues
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15324coll10/id/74020 'Gifts for the Gods: Images from Egyptian Temples], a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on block statues

{{DEFAULTSORT:Block Statue (Egyptian)}}
[[Category:Egyptian artefact types]]
[[Category:Sculptures of ancient Egypt]]