Description Amset (Imsti, Imseti), first of the four sons of Horus
Sycamore wood, remains of paint, minimal bump at the tip of the nose, otherwise completely intact
height appx. 150 mm, width appx. 32 mm, depth appx. 26 mm
Late period, XXVI dynasty around 600 B.C., but perhaps much earlier, from Sais or Saqqara
Provenance: Private collection Austria
Certificate of Authenticity Charles Ede no. 4775T
Regardless of its outwardly simple appearance, this statuette made of sycamore wood (more difficult to work than other types of wood because of its very fibrous structure) is undoubtedly one of the finest examples of ancient Egyptian wood portraits known to this day. Sycamores had cultic meaning, for example Hathor was considered the mistress of the southern sycamores.
How the artist succeeded in using bronze tools (or were they already made of iron?) to carve out such fine details as ears, eyes, eye cut and brows, nose and mouth, without even a single wood fibre breaking or tearing, must command the highest admiration from every viewer. The four sons of Horus were first mentioned in the Old Kingdom in the pyramid texts (at Teti and Pepi), where they are described as friends of the king, who are supposed to help him ascend to heaven after his death.
Here the human-headed Amset (also vocalized as Imsti or Imseti) is depicted, whose task was to protect the liver removed during the embalming process. The south was also attributed to him as the point of the compass, so in the tomb he always stood on the southern side of the sarcophagus.
If he had not already been made as a canopic jar, which was to contain the liver of the deceased, the predominant form of his depiction was that of a flat amulet, which was inserted between the bandages at the place where the liver was found when bandaging the mummy. As a statuette in mummy form like here it is very rare.
Expert: Dr. Helmut Satzinger, Professor of Egyptology, University of Vienna
Former Keeper of ‘The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection’, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Literature: W. Seipel hrsg., “?gypten, G?tter, Gr?ber und die Kunst”, Ausstellungskatalog Linz 1989, Nr. 109
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