NEW KINGDOM, 18TH DYNASTY, REIGN OF AKHENATEN, CIRCA 1351-1334 B.C.

Depicting a bald-headed priest performing a deep bow before the king, this fragment of a talatat block most likely derives from a scene of Akhenaten’s sed-festival, or jubilee ceremony. As reconstructed by D. Redford, and extensively studied by J. Gohary (Akhenaten’s Sed-Festival at Karnak), Akhenaten’s sed-festival scenes show participants wearing streamers similar to the one extending from the top of this courtier’s head (compare, for example, R.W. Smith and D B. Redford, The Akhenaten Temple Project. Volume 1: Initial Discoveries, pl. 52). Once part of Akhenaten’s Gem-pa-Aten temple at East Karnak, the complex was dismantled by Akhenaten’s successors, with the majority of the small blocks or talatat being reemployed in the foundations of various pylons at Karnak.