Early Art at Giza

Abstract

AN interesting account of the excavations of the Egyptian University at Giza during the present season is given by the Cairo correspondent of the Observer in the issue of March 18. The expedition, of which Prof. Selim Hassan is in charge, is engaged in investigating the Fourth Pyramid, with its surroundings, which has been identified as that of Khunt Kawas, daughter of Menkaura of the Fourth Dynasty. The exploration of the city attached to the pyramid, the only one of its kind yet discovered, has been carried further and has resulted in bringing to light, among other discoveries, the source of the water supply of the libation chamber and above the libation tank the tomb of an official described as “the purifier and prophet of the king's daughter”. The temple of Khunt Kawas has been located adjoining the temple of Menkaura and has been cleared. The most notable of the finds here are the base of a diorite statue of the king Chephren, grandfather of the princess, and the torso of a sphinx and the body of a statuette of the king which lay in the entrance to the temple of the king. In a temple of Ankhtef, the priest of the king's Ka, were found two small white limestone statues which are said to be the most perfect examples of the statuesque art of the early period. They represent Ankhtef himself seated and a woman kneeling and kneading bread, which, it is thought, may possibly represent his wife. An almost equally notable specimen of this early art is the statue of a judge of the period, which shows remarkable power in the modelling of the muscles and limbs.