Cult Statue of Amenhotep I

In the Ramesside village of Deir el-Medina, home of the men who cut the royal tombs, a dispute over property or a theft could be put to a king who had been dead for two centuries and more. Amenhotep I reigned, by the museum's dates, from about 1514 to 1494 BC. After his death he became a protector of the Theban necropolis, and above all of this village, and his image was consulted as an oracle. On feast days priests carried his statue out on a litter, people put their cases to it, and its movements were read as answers, a lurch forward for yes, a step back for no. Texts on papyrus and on flakes of limestone record the verdicts.

This limestone figure was made for that later cult. The museum dates it to the Ramesside period from its face, with the large eyes, full cheeks and hooked nose of that age's sculpture. His skin is painted white instead of the usual red, probably to imitate precious Egyptian alabaster.