/internal/media/dispatcher/961553/resize%25253Aformat%25253DthumbnailHead of a queen, from a sphinx1897–1878 B.C.Width x height x depth: 24 x 27 x 22 cm (9 7/16 x 10 5/8 x 8 11/16 in.)QuartzitePartial gift of Magda Saleh and Jack A. Josephson in honor of Dr. Rita E. Freed, Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art and museum purchase with funds from the Florence E. and Horace L. Mayer Funds, Egyptian Curator's Fund, Marilyn M. Simpson Fund, Norma Jean and Stanford Calderwood Discretionary Fund, Mr. and Mrs. James M. Vaughn, Jr., The Vaughn Foundation Fund, Egyptian Deaccession Fund, Mr. and Mrs. John H. Valentine, Jane Marsland and Judith A. Marsland Fund, Ernest Kahn Fund, Susan Cornelia Warren Fund, Samuel Putnam Avery Fund, Mary L. Smith Fund, John Wheelock Elliot and John Morse Elliot Fund, Mary E. Moore Gift, Mrs. James Evans Ladd, Frank Jackson and Nancy McMahon, Alice M. Bartlett Fund, Benjamin Pierce Cheney Donation, Frank M. and Mary T. B. Ferrin Fund, Meg Holmes Robbins, Mr. and Mrs. Mark R. Goldweitz, Allen and Elizabeth R. Mottur, Barbara and Joanne Herman, Clark and Jane Hinkley, Walter and Celia Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs. Gorham L. Cross, Mr. and Mrs. Miguel de Bragança, Honey Scheidt, Mr. and Mrs. G. Arnold Haynes and Margaret J. Faulkner2002.6091The sloping shoulders on this female head indicate that it comes from the figure of a sphinx. Although her name is not preserved, the uraeus (sacred cobra) at her brow indicates that she is a queen. Stylized eyes combined with subtle modeling around the mouth enable us to attribute her more precisely as Khnemetneferhedjetweret (Weret for short), chief wife of Senwosret II. The distinctive modeling of the queen’s mature face represents a milestone in the development of Middle Kingdom portraiture that reaches its culmination in the head of a nobleman shown nearby.Sculpture27.000000000022.000000000035496901