Portrait of King Amenemhat III

This head belongs to Amenemhat III, the sixth king of Dynasty 12 in the Middle Kingdom. Sculptures of Amenemhat III are remarkably diverse, making it virtually impossible to assign works to a segment of the king's reign. Amenemhat III's representations are considered by many Egyptologists to be a high point in ancient Egyptian sculpture.|

The king wears the nemes headcloth and the royal uraeus on his brow. Lightly modeled brows rest above the ruler's sunken eye sockets. His eyes are oval and crowned by heavy upper lids. The preserved ear is pushed forward by the nemes and is large. The nose is destroyed. The edges of the king's mouth curl up into a slight smile. What identifies this head with Amenemhat III is the king's characteristically large ears and jutting lower jaw. Later Middle Kingdom kings copied Amenemhat III's stylistic features. However, these renderings often resulted in hardened caricatures of a once great sculptural style.