Statuette of Nedjemu

¶ … Statuette of Nedjemu of Ancient Egypt (image retrieved at (http://academic.memphis.edu/egypt/1.htm) illustrates several aspects of Egyptian funerary sculpture that remained typical for almost 3000 years, although not in all of the surrounding ancient kingdoms and nations. This particular statue is thought to date from the Old Kingdom period, probably the Fifth Dynasty around 2500-2350 B.C.E.

The strict use of proportionality on the part of the limestone structure as well as the rigid posture and the quiet facial expression "reflect the Egyptian desire to represent the deceased in a manner appropriate for eternity," in a stylized fashion, rather than to capture how the dead were uniquely individuated as people in life.

(Art of Egypt, 2004) This fixation upon honoring the dead is in direct contrast to Greek statues of the period that were more often used in living temple rites, although they were often equally rigid and stylized. (Artlex, 2004) According to the observations of the historian Herodotus, the father of history expressed admiration at the religiosity of the Egyptians, noting that priests shaved their heads, kept huge monuments, and infused even the agricultural use of the Nile River with sanctity.

But this religiosity is most evident, he noted in the fact that a woman could not serve the priestly office, either for god or goddess, but men are priests to both."(Histories, Chapter II) Despite such praise for the Egyptian fixation upon the dead, some contemporary Egyptologists feel that "this little statuette was probably a quick, 'off-the-shelf' purchase after Nedjemu's death.

Some lightly inscribed hieroglyphs on the base tell us that it was acquired for Nedjemu's tomb by his son." (Art of Egypt, 2004) The standardized quality of the art is in direct contrast to the later, idealized Greek temple sculptures, and particularly to the emotive Greek art of the later, Hellenistic period which was manifestly anti-heroic in its subject choice and usage, and showed a distinct shift from religious to naturalistic themes and from standardized, ritualized, and perfect forms to forms that more accurately reflected.