Estatua de Ptah

Statue of Ptah
By STAN PARCHIN
May 10, 2010


Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.). Statue of Ptah. Gilded wood, faience and glass. H. 52.8 cm; W. 11.6 cm. Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62). Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

The number of deities in ancient Egypt's pantheon was myriad. Popular devotion to Ptah, the patron god of artists and craftsmen, distinguished him from the hundreds of others since the Old Kingdom days of the pyramids (Dynasties 3-6, ca. 2686-2125 B.C.). His cult was centered in Memphis, Egypt's first capital city. A gilded wooden Statue of Ptah (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.) in the special exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs survived the monotheistic heresy of Pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 B.C.), attesting to the deity's renewed importance during the nine-year reign of the young Tutankhamun (r. 1332-1323 B.C.).

The Religious Roles of Ptah
Egyptian theologians in Memphis carefully cultivated the image of Ptah (originally an earth god) as the creator of the world. According to the priests' esoteric canon of beliefs, Ptah's heart (the seat of intelligence) prompted him to speak the names of the deities, mankind and animals. In that way, he brought everything into existence.

Along with Amun and Re, Ptah was regarded as one of Egypt's three chief state gods. He was also revered for his role in mortuary rituals. An incantation in the Afterworld Texts, recited during the Opening of the Mouth (a funerary rite), transformed the deceased into Ptah.

Statue of Ptah
The Statue of Ptah was discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in one of 22 mostly sealed resin-coated wooden shrines in the Treasury of Tutankhamun's tomb. Coated with gesso and gilded, it was found with a wreath of pomegranate leaves around its neck. The sacred figure represents the mummiform god wearing a close-fitting skullcap made of glazed cobalt blue faience. While the sculpture's eyes are inlaid with limestone and obsidian, its eyebrows and cosmetic lines are composed of blue glass. The deity wears an artificial royal beard of gold-encrusted bronze.

Ptah's gilded body contains a high level of copper, giving the work a reddish glow. The gold of its face appears more yellow. A broad ornamental collar around Ptah's neck covers the shoulders and chest of his costume, the outfit engraved with a rishi or feather pattern. The god stands on a black varnished throne platform, its shape resembling the hieroglyphic abbreviation for maat (truth). Oval cartouches on the base contain the names of Tutankhamun and Ptah ("lord of maat"). The deity holds the royal insignia of a bronze was scepter symbolizing dominion, an ankh for life and a djed pillar representing stability.

The sculpture, like its 34 companions, was wrapped in a linen shawl. The cloth's inscription dates to Year 3 of Akhenaten's reign. This suggests that the Statue of Ptah was prepared for the pharaoh's projected tomb in Thebes, abandoned during his religious revolution in Amarna and re-appropriated by the Amun priesthood for the burial of his son Tutankhamun's mummy.

Sources
Edwards, I.E.S. Treasures of Tutankhamun (exh. cat.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976, 75, 150.

_____. Tutankhamun: His Tomb and Its Treasures. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art & Alfred P. Knopf, Inc, 1976, 186-187.

Hawass, Zahi. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2005, 204-205.

James, T.G.H. Tutankhamun. New York: MetroBooks, 2000, 144-145, 148.

Reeves, Nicholas. The Complete Tutankhamun: The King, The Tomb, The Royal Treasure. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1990, 130-135.
http://artmuseumjournal.com/statue_of_ptah.aspx

Esta estatua mide 60,2 cm y esta hecha con madera dorada, fayenza, bronce y vídrio.
En la actualidad está en la sala 35 del Museo de El Cairo.
Como ya habreis leído, la encontraron junto con otros objetos en la sala del tesoro.
La estatua fue hecha siguiendo las normas estilisticas de la esatatuaria arcaica, se observa que el cuerpo del dios no esta definido y está envuelto en una especie de manto que cubre todo su cuerpo a excepción de la cabeza.
El cetro que lleva el dios tiene tres símbolos: el was, el ank y el djed, es decir : el poder, la vida eterna y la estabilidad.