Considered perhaps Egypt’s greatest Pharaoh, Amenhotep III enjoyed a long and distinguished reign. He ascended the throne aged between 6 and 12, and was probably represented by a regent at this time. He displayed his physical and martial prowess early, killing (the probably exaggerated figure of) 102 or 110 lions in ritualised hunts during the first ten years of his reign. We must imagine that the young Pharaoh was given some help. His reign marked an artistic and cultural golden age; he invested heavily in the temples, even producing an entirely new architectural form, the open-roofed courtyard for the worship of the sun (Aten). He became known for his lavish and exceptional heb-sed festivals, celebrating 30 years on the throne. Few Pharaohs reached this milestone, and Amenhotep celebrated in such style that his heb-sed festivities were re-enacted by later kings as a link to Egypt’s glorious past.

More than 250 positively identified portraits of Amenhotep are known to exist. These range from the colossal – the much-famed 18 m ‘Colossi of Memnon,’ which stand on the West Bank of the Nile – to the tiny, like the 3.7 cm blue glass portrait that survives in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (inv. 139). His representations have a unique style, with downcast eyes that are much elongated, round full cheeks with high cheekbones, and a playful smile on his lips. The result is a distinctive sculptural identity, which can be traced throughout his numerous surviving portraits.

The back pillar of this extraordinary sculpture proclaims: ‘King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands, made by Ra, Nebmaatra (‘the possessor of the ma’at of Ra’).’ In doing so, it reveals the subject of this statue to be perhaps the greatest Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhotep III, whose throne name was Nebmaatra. The Pharaoh is depicted in the usual style of his later reign, with plump cheeks, elongated almond-shaped eyes, and a benign smile that radiates from the dark mottled granite. His ears are somewhat large – a common attribute of Pharaohs, who were supposed to be able to hear the prayers of their subjects. He wears the nemes headcloth, a lightweight everyday crown made of stiffened cloth, held in place with a diadem depicting the cobra goddess Wadjet. But on top of this, he has placed the pschent, the double-crown of Egypt, consisting of the bottle-shaped White Crown of Upper Egypt, placed inside the bucket-shaped Red Crown of Lower Egypt, thus emphasising his dominion over both of the traditional kingdoms. From his chin juts a squared false beard, and around his neck he wears the wesekh beaded collar.

This is Amenhotep as unifier. Through his titles and his headwear, he demonstrates the unique position of Pharaoh, holding together the disparate corners of his Empire. This is not a realistic portrait, nor was it intended to be. While the undeniable features of Amenhotep are present, the image is one of idealised perfection. The face is carefully worked out according to a grid pattern, to give the ultimate aesthetic impact. This is, after all, the Egyptian propaganda machine at work.

References: similar images of Amenhotep III can be found in collections in Berlin (Agyptisches Museum und Papyrussamlung 1997/118), Hannover (Museum August Kestner, no inventory number given), Minneapolis (Minneapolis Institute of Art 99.84.2) and Brussels (Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire E.7703).