NEW KINGDOM, 19TH DYNASTY, REIGN OF RAMESSES II, 1279-1213 B.C.

This object was once part of a colossal statue of Ramesses II (the Great), projecting forward from his fisted hand, sculpted from Aswan granite. Oval in profile, the concave end is sculpted in sunk relief with the king’s nomen, the last name in his titulary, reading “Ramesses Beloved of Amun.” The object in question is thought to represent a container for documents, which made its first appearance during the 18th Dynasty (see p. 20 in H.G. Fischer, “An Elusive Shape with the Fisted Hands of Egyptian Statues,” in Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 10). The form is different from the so-called “emblematic staves,” circular in profile with convex ends, that first appear in the fisted hands of male statues during the Old Kingdom, which are thought to be either a bolt of folded cloth or an attenuated staff of office. For a related example, see the colossal limestone statue in Memphis, where the documents case is likewise sculpted with titulary for Ramesses II.