Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut by ajaxofsalamis on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
This large kneeling statue once was part of a group pf similar figures aligned on the right-hand (northern) side of the processional way of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri, most probably in the second court of the temple. The pharaoh wears the ‘nemes’ headdress, and around her neck is a chain of tubular beads from which hangs an amulet of somewhat enigmatic form (a double pouch pierced with a thorn?). It is an adornment copied from the Middle Kingdom Statues of Senwosret III that stood in the temple of Mentuhotep II, just south of Hatshepsut’s monument.
The kneeling pose was assumed by Egyptian kings when they came into close proximity with a deity, for instance, when the pharaoh opened the shrine in which the god’s image resided. To perpetuate such encounters, small images of kneeling pharaohs were occasionally placed beside the processional barque shrines of deities. Hatshepsut’s kneeling images are unique in being of such large size.
18th Dynasty, ca. 1473-1458 BC, from Thebes, origianlly from Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri, excavated in fragments in the western and central part of the quarry.
