Statue of the Chancellor Nakhti
Unknown · Early Twelfth Dynasty, c. 1974-1856 BC
Nakhti strides forward on his left foot, life size and carved from acacia wood, his arms hanging at his sides and his hands closed around objects now lost. He is shown with a shaven head and a kilt with a starched front panel. Walk around to see how the sculptor used the natural grain of the trunk for the long body and added the arms separately. The eyes are inlaid, with a stone white, a dark pupil and a copper alloy rim, so that the gaze seems alive. Traces of red paint remain on the skin. The figure is set on its original base and stands one metre seventy eight centimetres high.
Nakhti was chancellor at Asyut in Middle Egypt at the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty, around nineteen hundred and fifty BC. His statue came from the chapel of his tomb, tomb number seven, where it was found during the French excavations at Asyut, and it arrived at the Louvre in nineteen hundred and three through the division of finds. Wooden statues of this size rarely survive because of damp and insects; the dry cliffs of Asyut preserved this one, along with the smaller figures and models displayed nearby.
Did You Know? At nearly one metre eighty, Nakhti is one of the largest wooden statues to survive from ancient Egypt.
Unlock the Full Guide
Read every room and listen to every work in all museums with premium.