A Re-carved Female Portrait from Buto in Kafr El-Sheikh Museum

Abstract

This paper analyses a head of a female statue (Inv. no.19891) that was kept in the Marea storeroom and is now in the Kafr Al-Sheikh Museum. Unfortunately, there is no information about its archaeological context, except that it was found near the main temple at Buto, which makes it difficult to identify the function of the head, its owner or its date, and who the head represents. The head is made of marble, its height is 22.2 cm, with a partly broken nose, and the back of the head seems to be made of gypsum with decoration. The head is shown wearing a diadem.The characteristics of the head can be compared to other examples, namely the facial features, the hairstyle and the diadem. The analysis suggests that this head was made for the Ptolemaic queen Bernice II and was sculpted from a reused block from an architectural cornice or frieze of a previous building.

Keywords

• reuse
• architectural elements
• ptolemaic queens
• bernice ii
• buto
• kafr-al sheikh