Block Statue of Hapuseneb

A man sits on the ground with his knees drawn up to his chest and his cloak wrapped so tightly around him that his body has become a block of stone, with only the head, the crossed arms and the feet emerging. Egyptians called this a block statue, and it was a favourite for temples because it was compact, nearly unbreakable and offered large flat surfaces for writing. Here those surfaces are filled with hieroglyphs. The face wears a broad wig and a small beard; the polish of the dark diorite is broken only by the crisp cutting of the text. Read the cartouche: it gives the throne name of Hatshepsut, the woman who ruled Egypt as pharaoh.