32. Statue of Sennuwe 

Sennuwe’s statue is hailed as a masterpiece of Egyptian Middle Kingdom art. She was the wife of Hepzefa, the ‘hereditary prince, nomarch, chief priest’ of Assiut in Middle Egypt. Their substantial rock-cut tomb at Assiut, a royal gift to Hepzefa, is a testament to his high social standing and appreciation by pharaoh Senusret I. The statues of Sennuwe and Hepzefa probably originally stood in their Assiut tomb, forming perches for their souls in the afterlife as they received offerings from the living. However, they were excavated some 773 miles to the south, in tumulus K III at Kerma. Only the lower part of Hepzefa’s statue was recovered there, in a compartment next to the royal chamber. Sennuwe’s statue was found intact, on the floor of the sacrificial corridor near the chamber. Smaller statues of other Egyptian administrators and many other Egyptian artifacts were found in the tumulus as well. Presuming that the indigenous Kerma culture could not have produced royal assemblages of this nature, the excavator interpreted the tumulus as Hepzefa’s tomb. We now know that tumulus K III belonged to a Kerman king. The statues and other Egyptian artifacts were taken during Kerman forays in Egypt during the Second Intermediate period. These takings were more than just looting: the statues were likely regarded as proxies of Egypt, ‘sacrificed’ along with the subsidiary burials to honor the deceased Kerman king. Many other finds from Egypt were found in the tumulus, together with locally made prestige artifacts. Scan the blue QR code nearby to explore a 3D model of Sennuwe's statue.