King Zoser Statue in the Egyptian Museum

https://www.worldtouradvice.com/files/large/King Zoser Statue in the Egyptian Museum

King Zoser Statue in the Egyptian Museum


 king Zoser statue, He was called Zoser and (Djoser), which means the holy one, Zoser statue was found behind his stunning pyramid in Saqqara in a closed room which has only 2 holes in front f the sttue eyes, the room was called The Serdab, Zoser statue was made out of painted limestone which was brought from Tura, Mahsara and Mukkatam hill from the eastern part of Cairo.
king Djoser was son of queen "Ny ma't hab" the wife of king "khaskhemwy" the last king of the second dynasty.  Turin papyrus informs us that king Djoser ruled for about 19 years but the Egyptian historian "Manethon said that he ruled for 29 years."Manetho is believed to have been an Egyptian priest who  wrote a major history of Egypt in Greek at the royal request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

There are 2 tombs erected for king Djoser, one is a memorial tomb located at Beit el Khalaf, south of Gergah and the other tomb is the step pyramid at Saqqara, This step pyramid was the first pyramid erected in world, and the first time for Egyptian to use the stones to build constructions.

Djoser name was inscribed on the palette called the "famine stela" dates back to the Ptolemaic period and mentions that there were a great famine during the reign of Djoser because the River Nile failed to rise for seven years so zoser asked for the advice from Imhotep who said that king Djoser should gain the favor of Khenum god of the first cataract. Therefore, Djoser went to the first cataract and presented offerings and gifts to the temple of Khnum. As a result, the Nile raised and Egypt was saved.
Djoser statue is almost life size statue and it represents the king  sitting on high back throne and wearing the "Heb Sed" garment.

"Heb Sed feast"
Heb Sed is an essential festival in ancient Egypt, when the king ruled Egypt for about 30 years; he has to celebrate the "Heb Sed" to show to his people that he is strong enough to rule Egypt more years and to renew his rule for another thirty years.
However some Egyptian kings liked to celebrate the Heb Sed festival without waiting for these 30  years.
The "Heb Sed" dress covers the whole body while not covering parts of the hands and legs and leave them free.King Djoser right arm is on his chest while his left hand is left open over his lab.
King Djoser wears the nms hair dress over his thick wig, Djoser has two straps on the front and a third one on the back and his ears are left uncovered.
From the artistic point of view, the thick hair wig and the beard preserved the neck of the statue from being cracked.

king Djoser wears a long false beard which is partialy cracked and has a thin moustache which is unusual feature because all  Ancient Egypt kings used to shave their moustache . (As sort of sanitation)

King Djoser eyes were inlaid but they were stallen and the nose was damaged.You will see that the artist  who made Djoser statue did not care about the details of the statue body and  arms. Also, he didn't acieved the correct proportion that the statue has wide shoulder and skinny legs. Beside the fingers are tall and the feet are larger than the common size. All of these disadvantages were because the artist  still made his first steps in the art.
On the base of king Djoser statue, You will see hieroglyphic inscription , It is the name of  king Djoser ( Zoser )
Click the link to see Zoser and Saqqara step pyramid tours