Unknown
Egyptian

Relief of Kha'emweset, son of pharaoh Ramses II, 1279-1213 BCE
limestone
26 3/4 x 23 x 3/4 in.

SBMA, Gift of Wright S. Ludington
1978.4.24

COMMENTS

1. Ancient Egyptian Relief Types

The forms of ancient Egyptian relief sculpture gradually evolved during the Predynastic period, when the main examples were rock-carvings and incised decoration on slate palettes and ivory knife-handles. By the Early Dynastic period, a distinctive set of conventions and proportions and a rigid repertory of subject-matter had emerged. Since Dynastic reliefs mainly took the form of stelae (see Stele, §2) and the decoration on the walls of tombs and temples, subsequent technical developments were primarily dictated by changes in religious and funerary ritual.

The two main types of relief—raised and sunk—were used to varying degrees, depending on such factors as cost, speed and position within a building. There were also subtleties within each basic type, such as ‘low relief’ (relatively shallow raised relief) and a combination of sunk and raised, in which the background was only partially removed, gradually sloping back up to surface level. All types of reliefs were invariably painted after completion, with reliefs in tombs usually preserving more of the original paint than those in temples.

a) Raised

The Narmer Palette (c. 3000 BC) is one of the earliest examples of Egyptian raised (or bas-)relief, a method of sculpting involving the removal of the material surrounding the figures depicted. This type of relief was used from the late Predynastic period onwards, reaching a peak in the mid-18th Dynasty, particularly in the temples and private tombs of the reign of Amenophis III (reg c. 1390–c. 1353 BC). Fine raised relief was used in the decoration of the mortuary temple of Sethos I (reg c. 1290–c. 1279 BC) at Abydos, but the temple was completed in sunk relief by his successor Ramesses II (reg c. 1279–c. 1213 BC). Raised relief was subsequently rarely used, apart from revivals in the 26th Dynasty (664–525 BC) and the Greco-Roman period (332 BC–AD 395).

b) Sunk

Egyptian sculptors created sunk relief as a cheaper and faster alternative to raised relief, since its execution required only the carving out of the outlines of the figures, leaving the surrounding material in place. The modelling and details of each figure were then sculpted within the carved outline. It was probably the speed of this technique that led to its use in the ambitious building projects of Akhenaten (reg c. 1353–c. 1336 BC; see fig.) and Ramesses II. The lines and modelling of sunk relief are generally cruder and less delicate than those of raised relief, but it was more difficult for successors to re-carve (and therefore usurp). Sunk relief was often used for the external walls of temples, where it created a sharper effect of light and shadow than raised relief, which tends to flatten out in direct sunlight. In terms of material, sunk relief was particularly preferred on harder stones, such as granite or basalt, since less of the surface had to be removed.


2. New Kingdom Reliefs: post-Amarna (c. 1332 – c. 1075 BCE)

After the death of Akhenaten, the reliefs in private tombs at Saqqara still show the uninhibited development of the naturalistic style in the area of Memphis, especially in the tomb of Horemheb at Saqqara (built before he became king). Even orthodox Thebes could not escape the influence of Amarna art at the end of the 18th Dynasty, judging from the reliefs and paintings of Tutankhamun in his tomb and at Luxor temple.

The beginning of the Ramesside era is marked by the academic classicism of the reliefs of Sethos I: their elegant form and painstaking modelling lend a cool tonality to the beautiful reliefs in his temples at Thebes (see Thebes, §VIII) and Abydos. At this time raised relief was dominant, giving clarity of form and a balanced effect of light and shade, but during the reign of Ramesses II it was largely replaced by the sharp chiaroscuro of sunk relief, which was more dramatic and aggressive. Ramesses II expressed his power through military conquests and the building of many temples, the decoration of which provided a considerable challenge to his sculptors. The preference for sunk relief was perhaps dictated by the need to decorate a greater number of buildings at the same time, since raised relief was a more time-consuming technique.

The artistic standard of Ramesses II’s reliefs is extremely diverse, including such superb works of art as the reliefs in the temple at Beit el-Wali and the ‘Ramesseum’ in western Thebes, as well as some careless reliefs in which the composition and modelling are schematic and frequently incomplete. However, the presence of many first-rate artists in the Theban region during the reign of Ramesses II and his successors is indicated by the relief decoration of the tombs of the nobles as well as tombs of the kings and their families, which were dominated by combinations of mythological scenes and religious texts forming complete compositions (e.g. ‘Amduat’, ‘The Book of Gates’ and ‘The Book of the Caves’). Some reliefs in the Valley of the Kings distinguish themselves by their beautiful forms and scrupulous execution.

There are three well-preserved royal mortuary temples of the post-Amarna period in western Thebes: those of Sethos I, Ramesses II (the ‘Ramesseum’) and Ramesses III (Medinet Habu). There are also many post-Amarna reliefs in the temples of eastern Thebes, of which the Temple of Amun at Karnak assumed the most monumental of forms. The walls of these Theban temples are decorated with scenes illustrating the development of the iconographic repertory and the various types of Ramesside relief. The outer walls are chiefly decorated with battle scenes from the pharaohs’ victorious campaigns, while the façades of the pylons carry depictions of the capturing and slaying of Egypt’s enemies. Despite the growing schematization of the reliefs, many of them (such as the hunting scene on the north-west side of the first pylon at Medinet Habu) are original, dynamic compositions, full of dramatic expression.

Bibliography
• Medinet Habu, U. Chicago, IL, Orient. Inst., 8 vols (Chicago, 1930–70)
• A. M. Calverley and others: The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos (London, 1933–)
• A. Piankoff: The Tomb of Ramesses VI (New York, 1954)
• C. Desroches-Noblecourt and C. Kuentz: Le Petit Temple d’Abou Simbel, 2 vols (Cairo, 1968)

- S. Curto and Karol Mysliwiec, Grove Art Online, 2010

SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS

Kha’emweset was the son of the pharaoh Ramses II. He held the important title of High Priest of Ptah, the creator-god of Memphis, and oversaw the cult of the bull-god Apis. Here he wields the sekhem, a short staff signifying authority, and similar reliefs from roughly the same period suggest that he would have been seated in front of a table of offerings. The hieroglyphic text to the right reads ‘for [or of] the king’s son Ramessu, son of the [king’s] son, setem-priest, Kha’emweset’. It is likely that Ramessu is the small figure just visible at bottom right, since it was not unusual for tomb owners to be shown with family members at a smaller scale. In addition to his religious duties, Kha’emweset restored many Old Kingdom documents, leaving his and his father’s names on many inscriptions which commemorated this work.

- Thayer Gallery, 2021