subject: Statue Of Rehuank [print this page] Rehuank ( called Ankhrehu in older publications) was of mayor of an unnamed town, no doubt Abydos. The statue must have been the centerpiece of a tomb chapel in the town's Northern Necropolis, where to offering tables of the same man were also discovered. One, now in Cairo (cg23045),was found by Auguste Mariette ; the other. Now in Kyoto, was excavated by W.M.E Petrie. In addition to Rehuankh himself, both tables commemorate an extraordinary number of relatives and associates. His brother , mother and maternal relatives also appear on a stela whose relevance in this context has hitherto been overlooked (Cairo Museum,CG20582); it too was found by Maiette in the Northern Necropolis and undoubtedly comes from the same family chapel .
As usual with late Middle Kingdom mayors, Rehuankh bears the additional title of overseer of god's servants, indicating managerial responsibility for his town's temple.
His close involvement with its daily affairs is stressed by the inscriptions on statue's robe and seat. Besides familiar titles such as 'senior lector' they contain effusive, title-like phrases emphasizing his care for a steady flow of offerings. We are left in no doubt as to where in Egypt this temple was sited. The cult recipient is identified as the ' Great God' and ' Lord of Eternity ' in clear allusion to Osiris, and he is also called Rehuankh's Lord. There is also a reference to unnamed subsidiary gods ' who are in their shrine '.
Rehuankh calls himself the ' god's sealer', in the neshmet-boat , linking him to the sacred barque used regular title ' god's sealer', which on the Cairo offering table is borne both by Rehuankh and, in a secondary of ' prefix title' assigns supreme statue to Rehuankh, on a par with Egypt's top officials. This is no surprise, since he administered a sacred and flourishing pilgrimage town. Rehuankh's importance is underlined by the high artistic quality of the statue and its quartzite, a rare, hard stone from quarries as far away as Helipolis, which had only begun to be used for some private statues in the late Middle Kingdom.
The sculptor undoubtedly belonged to a royal workshop and the statue may have been carved in the north and then shipped to Abydos. Stylistic features date it to the reign of Senwosret III or the early years of Amenemhat III. This agrees with the date of the Kyoto offering table, which comes from a well-attested sculpture workshop based at Abydos itself and active during Amenemhat's reign. Rehuankh's long robe is not specific to his mayoral office but a common feature in male private sculpture from the mid-Twelfth Dynasty onwards. His shoulder-length wig likewise reflects the fashion of his day.
Middle kingdom, Twelfth dynasty, reign of senwosret III or early years of Amenemhat III, c 1850 1830 BC
Provenance undocumented, but undoubtedly from Abydos
Bequeathed by Lady Coote in 1944
Quartzite , height: 71 cm
EA 1785
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