A fascinating, richly illustrated study of the role and significance
of ancient statues in Egyptian history and belief
Why do ancient Egyptian statues so often have their noses, hands, or
genitals broken? Although the Late Antiquity period appears to have been
one of the major moments of large-scale vandalism against pagan
monuments, various contexts bear witness to several phases of reuse,
modification, or mutilation of statues throughout and after the
pharaonic period. Reasons for this range from a desire to erase the
memory of specific rulers or individuals for ideological reasons to
personal vengeance, war, tomb plundering, and the avoidance of a curse;
or simply the reuse of material for construction or the need to ritually
"deactivate" and bury old statues, without the added motive of explicit
hostility toward the subject in question.
Drawing on the latest scholarship and over 100 carefully selected
illustrations, Ancient Egyptian Statues proceeds from a general
discussion of the production and meaning of sculptures, and the
mechanisms of their destruction, to review the role of ancient statuary
in Egyptian history and belief. It then moves on to explore the various
means of damage and their significance, and the role of restoration and
reuse.
Art historian Simon Connor offers an innovative and lucidly written
reflection on beliefs and practices relating to statuary, and images
more broadly, in ancient Egypt, showing how statues were regarded as the
active manifestations of the entities they represented, and the ways in
which they could endure many lives before being finally buried or
forgotten.
