Head of Amenhotep III Wearing the Round Wig
c. 1391–1353 BCE
- Medium
- brown quartzite
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 17.3 x 17 x 25.3 cm (6 13/16 x 6 11/16 x 9 15/16 in.)
- Culture
- Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BCE)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Although he must have been nearly 50 years old when this portrait was carved, Amenhotep III appears more youthful than ever. Over a round, curly wig he wears a diadem with side streamers adorned with cobras bearing sun disks on their heads. The stone quartzite was associated with the sun on account of its ruddy hues, ranging in color from brown to red to purple. It was a favorite of Amenhotep III, the king who called himself the "dazzling sun-disk of all lands."
