Amenhotep III in the red crown

The eyes of this head angle down towards the person standing below. That small adjustment gives you a clue to the scale of the complete statue. Amenhotep III, a king of Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty, was meant to be seen from a much lower level. Follow the tall shape above his face. It is the red crown, with a cobra at the front. The head is quartzite, a hard stone that gives the broad face and crown a continuous, solid outline. Even separated from its body, the sculpture presents a ruler through recognisable royal signs. This is the quartzite head numbered EA7, now in the Great Court. The Museum also has other heads of Amenhotep III, including a different sculpture in the Egyptian gallery. Keeping them separate lets you follow the history of this particular object. It was purchased from the collector Henry Salt. Here, a face made to look down from a colossal statue meets visitors moving through the Museum’s central court.