AN IMPORTANT AND INSCRIBED BASALT BUST OF THE PRIEST AMUN PA-KHAR-KHONSU, PROPHET OF UASET THE VICTORIOUS, THEBES, EARLY PTOLEMAIC PERIOD

Notes on the Hieroglyphic Text and the Saite Formula: Simone Musso has written a detailed commentary on the hieroglyphic text inscribed on the back pillar of the statue. He identifies the inscription as consisting of “two columns of hieroglyphic text in Early Ptolemaic paleographic style that contain the beginning of the so-called Saite Formula and Pa-khar-Khonsu’s titles.
Musso further provides a full transliteration and translation, noting that the formula represents “a cryptic appeal to the City God,” a text type known from the New Kingdom to the Ptolemaic Period. Based on the preserved proportions, he also reconstructs the likely missing portion of column 2, concluding that it must have contained “the shortened version of the Saite Formula.”
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Simone Musso is a consultant curator for Egyptian antiquities at the Stibbert Museum and a member of the Nuri Archaeological Expedition.

Egypt, Thebes, circa 305-200 BC. Finely carved, the face shows a stern expression, with long almond-shaped eyes with straight brows above, smooth cheeks, thick lips curved into a tight, controlled smile, while the head is covered by a wig set low on the forehead and neatly tucked behind the ears. Modestly dressed in a belted shendyt kilt, the body appears strong despite the subtle definition of the musculature.

On the back, the dorsal pillar is engraved with two vertical columns of hieroglyphs in Early Ptolemaic paleographic style that contain the beginning of the Saite formula and Pa-khar-Khonsu’s titles.

Inscriptions: To the dorsal pillar, inscribed ‘(O) City God of the Osiris, prophet of Amun in the Temple of Karnak, guardian of the sacred-bark of Amun in the 4^th phylé, scribe of the god, chief of the wab-priests of Amon the Primeval(?), in the 4^th phylé, prophet Osiris-Ptah, Lord [of Life] […] gods, of the treasure-house, the granary and the mansion of gold in the domain of Amun, prophet of Uaset, the Victorious, Lady of strength, Pa-khar-Khonsu, true of voice, get thee [behind him, while his ka is in front of him. He is a Heliopolitan!]

Condition: Very good condition with old wear, commensurate with age. Natural imperfections, obvious losses, scattered nicks and scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, and soil encrustations.

Provenance:
- The collection of Wolfgang Müller-Feldman.
- A private collection in Switzerland.
- The collection of Fayez Barakat, United Kingdom.
- With Pierre Bergé & Associés, Paris, France, 14 December 2009, lot 42, purchased for EUR 259,007.44 or approx. EUR 339,000 adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
- The Saoud bin Mohammed Ali Al-Thani Foundation, Paris, France, acquired from the above, and subsequently de-accessed.

The figure with a small inventory label, inscribed ‘3814 PB’. A copy of an invoice from Pierre Bergé & Associés, Paris, confirming the dating and provenance above, and stating a purchase price of EUR 259,007.44 or approx. EUR 339,000 (adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies this lot. A copy of a provenance statement, confirming the Saoud bin Mohammed Ali Al-Thani Foundation's previous ownership of the present lot, will be provided to the winning bidder after full payment has been received.

Fayez Barakat (b. 1949) is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost dealers and collectors of ancient art. His extensive expertise has helped shape numerous important private and public collections, and he is reputed to have advised or sold to several leading 20th-century artists, including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí, and Andy Warhol.

Born into an old farming family in the Hebron Hills of Palestine, Barakat was introduced to ancient art from an early age. The family owned vineyards, and villagers ploughing the fields frequently unearthed ancient coins, pottery, and even tombs. Unlike most at the time, Barakat’s grandfather chose to preserve these finds rather than discard them, occasionally bringing selected pieces to the market alongside the family’s produce, where they were acquired by foreign visitors.

As the family’s enterprise grew, Fayez Barakat spent his formative years working alongside the British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon, learning the fundamentals of field archaeology. He later deepened his knowledge under the guidance of renowned Middle Eastern scholars and archaeologists Nelson Glueck and William Dever.

Saoud bin Mohammed Ali Al-Thani (1966-2014) was a Qatari prince who served as minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage. By the turn of the 21st century, Sheikh Saoud had established an international reputation as an avid art collector, both for his own collection as well as those of several state-owned museums he oversaw in Qatar. Sheikh Saoud’s legacy as a collector is remarkable, as he laid the foundations of the major collections of Qatar Museums. In 2021, the Museum of Islamic Art hosted an exhibition in tribute to the legendary collector, titled A Falcon's Eye: Tribute to Sheikh Saoud Al-Thani.

Weight: 10,259 g (excl. stand), 13,127 g (incl. stand)
Dimensions: 37 cm (excl. stand), 42.5 cm (incl. stand)

With a fitted metal stand. (2)

The two columns of text on the back pillar contain the beginning of the so-called ‘Saite formula,’ with Pakhar-Khonsu’s name and titles. He held various administrative and priestly functions including that of Prophet of Amun in Karnak and Prophet of Uaset the Victorious, Lady of strength. This last title is particularly rare and attests to the cult of the goddess Uaset dating back to the New Kingdom.

Uaset, whose name means ‘the powerful female one’, is the personification of the city of Thebes. Her cult dates back to the XVIIIth Dynasty, to king Thutmose III, who, upon returning from his military campaign in Levant, ordered the erection of a statue to Uaset the Victorious. Uaset was depicted as a woman and in a martial guise, with a spear, bow and arrows in her left hand, and a mace in her right hand. Upon her head stood the hieroglyph of her name, the emblem of Thebes.

Expert’s note: Most standing male sculptures of the Ptolemaic Period were represented with a shaven head; when a wig is employed, it is usually a bag wig. A wide or a straight wig is rarely found, and the few examples that occur are invariably from Thebes. It is significant of the tradition-loving south that there such a time-honored headdress appeared continuously among the shaven heads, while the north had completely abandoned it for generations. It is doubtful that the wide wig was still worn in daily life; it had probably become an accessory used only in sculpture made for tradition-minded persons. Its shape and contour became less and less distinct, and it no longer formed an imposing frame and background for the face — it became an adjunct, put on the head for convention's sake rather than something really worn, as is shown by its awkward proportions, narrow, and rising to a great height above the forehead.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related gray-black diorite figure of Pekher-khonsu, Ptolemaic Period, dated circa 250-200 BC, 48.4 cm high, in the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, San José, inventory number RC-1583, and illustrated by Bernard V. Bothmer, in Egyptian sculpture of the Late Period, Brooklyn Museum, 1960, p. 130-131, no. 102, pl. 95, fig. 255-256. Compare a closely related graywacke figure of a Hor-wedja, Late Period, dated c. 640-620 BC, 37.5 cm high, in the Walters Art Museum, accession number 22.79. Compare a related stone figure of Pakharkhonsu holding a figure of Osiris, Late Period, 54.5 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number EA48038.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 4 June 2015, lot 17
Price: USD 245,000 or approx. EUR 286,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian black granite bust of an official, 30^th Dynasty to early Ptolemaic Period, circa 4^th-3^rd century BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling and similar musculature, facial features, and wig. Note the size (34.2 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 9 December 2005, lot 37
Price: USD 240,000 or approx. EUR 340,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian black basalt block statue of Wahibre, Ptolemaic Period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling of the head with a similar expression and carved facial features. Note the size (33.3 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s New York, 16 June 2020, lot 2
Price: USD 150,000 or approx. EUR 162,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian green greywacke torso of an official, Late Period, 26^th-27^th Dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related modeling of the torso with similar subtly carved musculature. Note the smaller size (13.9 cm) and that this is just a small fragment.