Armless Figures in Ancient Egypt Until The End of The New Kingdom

Abstract

Figures with physical disabilities were rarely represented in ancient Egyptian art. The idealistic representation of the body was the customary rule followed by gods and kings. Predynastic and Dynastic exceptions suggest the intention to display disability by representing figures with bodies but without their arms. It is argued that the armless figures must have played a significant role, especially during funerary rituals. Predynastic examples discussed here include figures without arms related to funerary rituals, accompanying the funerary boats or deposited inside tombs to bless the deceased. Dynastic examples raise the possibility that these armless figures were divine and may have played a dedicated role in the deceased’s funerary fate. A lack of arms may have represented the state of disability itself. The armless figures may have imitated the sun god’s period of weakness during his journey through the night, perhaps playing a role that was suspended for a while, and continued in the afterlife. Their role may have been as guardians of the burial place or demons protecting the deceased. Some divine figures appear with a definite role to help the sun god in his night hours journey, as in the Amduat.

Keywords

• armless
• disability
• decorum
• neper
• stump arms
• predynastic
• paralysed arms
• hidden arms
• netherworld