According to Merriam Webster Online, a statue is “a figure usually of a person or animal that is made from stone, metal, etc.; a full three dimensional representations of usually of a person, animal, or mythical being that is produced by sculpting, modeling, or casting.” (Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary, n.d.) Statues help to tell the history of how people thought and the practices they conducted. This way of expressing oneself was more important in ancient times as oppose to current/recent times where solely focus on producing books/magazines and expressing oneself through social media. Statues bring long past events and people to life, and makes the subjects real and present to audience hundreds of years after their creation. Their stories
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It’s a 4th Dynasty Egyptian work speculatively from the Giza, Western Cemetery due to its similarities to other statues discovered in that area and dating 2575-2465 BC. It is a statue that was painted with limestone and represents a non-royal couple. The statue of Memi and Sabu represents husband and wife based on other statues of similar nature. This is supported by the warm embrace Memi the husband gives Sabu his wife and this show of intimacy probably explains why Memi stands with his feet together instead of the usually masculine striding pose where the left leg is slightly advanced. Also, it was discovered that non-couples do not hold each other in such an embrace. According to Metropolitan Museum of Art, “the Egyptians believed that the spirit of the deceased could use such a statue as a home and enter it in order to benefit from gifts of food that were brought to the offering chapel of the …show more content…
Also unlike the statue of Memi and Sabu that represented non-royals, the statue of Gudeo represented one of the heroes of the Neo-Sumerian culture, Gudea of Lagash. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000) It is a Diorite sculpture as compared to Limestone. History tells us that in southern Mesopotamia, one of the primary city-states of the time, Lagash, was known to create a number of statues of its kings, Sumerian Literary hymns, and prayers under Gudea’s rule (2150-2125 BC.). The culture was more devoted to sincere reverence of their leaders in art as opposed to typical Akkadian naturalism. Gudea has his hands folded in a traditional gesture of greeting and prayer while seated as a ruler before his subjects. In addition, his feet are not touching the ground symbolizing a man of great power and respect. As the inscription reads, “Gudea, the man who built the temple; may his life be long,” gives evidence to the historical records of Gudea’s ecstatic devotion to rebuilding the great temples of
It’s a 4th Dynasty Egyptian work speculatively from the Giza, Western Cemetery due to its similarities to other statues discovered in that area and dating 2575-2465 BC. It is a statue that was painted with limestone and represents a non-royal couple. The statue of Memi and Sabu represents husband and wife based on other statues of similar nature. This is supported by the warm embrace Memi the husband gives Sabu his wife and this show of intimacy probably explains why Memi stands with his feet together instead of the usually masculine striding pose where the left leg is slightly advanced. Also, it was discovered that non-couples do not hold each other in such an embrace. According to Metropolitan Museum of Art, “the Egyptians believed that the spirit of the deceased could use such a statue as a home and enter it in order to benefit from gifts of food that were brought to the offering chapel of the …show more content…
Also unlike the statue of Memi and Sabu that represented non-royals, the statue of Gudeo represented one of the heroes of the Neo-Sumerian culture, Gudea of Lagash. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000) It is a Diorite sculpture as compared to Limestone. History tells us that in southern Mesopotamia, one of the primary city-states of the time, Lagash, was known to create a number of statues of its kings, Sumerian Literary hymns, and prayers under Gudea’s rule (2150-2125 BC.). The culture was more devoted to sincere reverence of their leaders in art as opposed to typical Akkadian naturalism. Gudea has his hands folded in a traditional gesture of greeting and prayer while seated as a ruler before his subjects. In addition, his feet are not touching the ground symbolizing a man of great power and respect. As the inscription reads, “Gudea, the man who built the temple; may his life be long,” gives evidence to the historical records of Gudea’s ecstatic devotion to rebuilding the great temples of