King Sahure (Relief)

A foundation stone for the museum’s Ancient Egypt collection was laid with excavations begun in 1902 by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft in the pyramid precinct of Abusir. The artefacts unearthed there included this fragment of a carved limestone relief from the mortuary temple of King Sahure, who ruled from 2496 to 2483 BC. It shows the king with the characteristic symbols of power of Ancient Egyptian rulers. These include the headband adorned with a uraeus and the ceremonial beard. The king’s crown symbolises his rule over Upper and Lower Egypt. It consists of a central piece made of bound plant stalks and two ostrich plumes, and a lower part formed out of bull and ram horns. Sahure’s tomb was the first pyramid to be constructed in Abusir. The walls of the complex were decorated with reliefs of singular quality, the fragments of which, right up to today, allow a view into the life of the king and his reign. The architectural style employed here served as an example for the design of royal burial sites until around 1900 BC.