Head of a Kushite Ruler

Head of a Kushite Ruler

Kushite royal statues, particularly examples from Upper Egypt, emphasize the foreign, non-Egyptian origin of their subjects. This head, perhaps of King Shabaqa, shows the ruler with a broad, nearly round face characteristic of the Kushite people. His regalia also reflects Kushite influence, and his shortly cropped hair—bound by a broad headband—is a feature never seen on native Egyptian sculpture. A knob, now gone, at the front of the headband once accommodated two uraeus cobras. On statues of kings, the double cobra is uniquely Kushite as well.

Egyptian. Head of a Kushite Ruler, ca. 716-702 B.C.E. Green schist, 2 3/4 x 2 1/16 x 2 9/16 in. (7 x 5.3 x 6.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 60.74. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.60.74.jpg)

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/3685