A rediscovered wooden statue of the overseer of the two granaries Ihy – Cairo, Egyptian Museum, JE 100373: An archaeological and conservation study

Abstract

This paper discusses the wooden statue JE 100373, which was recently re discovered in the basement of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Based on the statue’s stylistic analysis and its identification in the unpublished excavation report MSS Gunn XXII, we re identify it as part of the statue ensemble of the overseer of the two granaries Ihy, found in a cache within a Ptolemaic tomb at Saqqara. As a result, the investigation proves the provenience of the statue from Cyril M. Firth’s excavations south of the Step Pyramid complex in 1926. Com bining conservation science and traditional Egyptological approaches, the paper finally provides evidence for the continuity of the manufacture of large sized high quality wooden statuary by residential workshops until the final years of Pepy II or slightly later.

Keywords

• wooden statuary
• second style
• saqqara
• late sixth dynasty
• archaeometry