Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/213

 Sculpture under the Ancient Empire. to be contemporary with the oldest tombs in the neighbourhood of the pyramids.^ Progress was rapid between the end of the third dynasty and that of the fourth. It was during the latter dynasty that the art of the Ancient Empire produced its masterpieces. ^lariette attributes the two famous statues found in a tomb near the pyramid of Meidoum to the reign of Snefrou, the predecessor of Cheops. They are exhibited, under glass, in the Boulak Museum (Plate IX).2 " One of them represents Ra-hotep. a prince of the blood, who enjoyed the dignity of general of infantry, a ver}- rare title under the Ancient Empire ; the other is a woman, Xefert, tJie beauty ; her statue also informs us that she was related to the king. We do not know whether she w^as the wife or sister of Ra-hotep. The interest excited by the extreme beauty of these figures is increased by our certainty of their prodigious antiquity. In the mastaba where they were found everything is frankly archaic, everything is as old as the oldest of the tombs at Sakkarah, and those date from before the fourth dynasty. A neighbouring tomb which, as is proved by the connection between their structures, dates from the same period as that of Ra-hotep, is that of a functionary attached to the person of Snefrou I. We may, therefore, fairly assign the two statues from Meidoum to the last reign of the third dynasty." ^ Each of these figures, with its chair-shaped seat, is carved from a single block of limestone about four feet high. The man is almost nude ; his only dress is a ribbon about his neck, and white breeches like those to which we have already alluded. The woman is robed in the long chemise, open between the breasts, which we have seen upon Xesa. Besides this a wide and richly designed necklace spreads over her chest. Upon her head she has a square-cut black wig, which, however, allows her natural hair to be visible in front. Over the wig she has a low flat cap with a decorated border. The carnations of the man are brownish red, those of the woman light yellow. ^ The Boulak Museum also contains specimens of these figures. See Xofiie, Nos. 994 and 995. ' Notice des principaux Monujuents exposes a Boulak, Xo. 973. These figures were discovered in January, 1872. They had a narrow escape of being destroyed by the pickaxes of the superstitious fellaheen. Mariette fortunately arrived just in time to prevent the outrage. Reciieil de Travaux, vol. i. p. 160. ' Mariette, Voyage dans la Haute-Egypte, p. 47.