As I walked through the museum’s ancient Egypt exhibit  I was in real amazement of the artwork and felt so privileged we are to study history through breathtaking artwork which was so carefully excavated. Throughout the Ancient Egypt exhibit the “Statue of Queen Ankhnes-merye ll and her son, pepy ll” really stuck out to me, mostly because of the beautiful stone used to make the sculpture. After doing research, I found that Egyptian alabaster is actually common because it’s easily sculpted and the light shines through it giving it added beauty.

While I analyzed the sculpture I noticed a few things. Firstly the female seems to be powerful due to her size which usually signifies power in ancient art, as opposed to other sculptures of the male being the main source of power. In addition, the smaller figure which is obvious is her son Peppy ll is wearing the head adornment of a pharaoh. Did the royal children wear royal head adornment as well? Why are the two figures sitting seemingly separate? Almost as if they are two different sculptures completely. What is the scripture written at the feet of both the female and the child on her lap? Why is there a hole in the head of the queen? it seemed to connect with etchings on the top of her head.

After visiting the exhibit I did research to answer my question on the sculpture. Firstly, the queen’s husband Pepy l died leaving his son Pepy ll the heir to the throne, which he ruled for 70-88 years. The figures are sitting in a 90-degree angle to signify equal importance. Yet the queen is significantly bigger because Peppy ll was still a small child and she held most of the power until peppy was old enough to rule on his own. The placement of the figures is also typical of a nursing mother to show that Peppy was still a child. He wears the typical Pharoh headgear because he was the ultimately the heir. The queen has a hole in the front of her head which is believed that a vulture’s head made of metal would have protruded connecting to the wings at the top of her head. The writing at each of their feet, “”Under Pepy II’s feet is inscribed: “King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Pepy II, beloved of the god Khnum, given all life, like Re, forever.” and under Ankhnes-meryre’s feet is written, “Mother of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the god’s daughter, the revered one, beloved of Khnum, Meryre-anhknes.”” (taken from the Brooklyn Musem’s website).