Statue of Harbes, called Psamtiknefer, son of Ptahhotep

Statue of Harbes, called Psamtiknefer, son of Ptahhotep

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Harbes was an official of the pharaoh Psamtik II. This statue depicts him protecting a figure of the god Osiris. Harbes wears the king's two cartouches on either shoulder. The statue was anciently set up in Karnak Temple at Thebes, where it constitutes a rare example inscribed for this king. By this time a typical Saite style originating in the north has spread throughout the country: Harbes has slightly tipped eyes and curving, although rather thick, lips that follow the style. On the sides of the statue itself are lengthy invocation offerings to Osiris Wennefer, left, and Amun lord of Karnak, where Harbes' title, read as "Chief Scribe of the Great Prison", is given along with the name of his father Ptahhotep and mother Dinyhetiret. A long oddly laid out inscription is found on the back pillar. Harbes also follows a fashion of the era in receiving or adopting the ''good name'' Psamtiknefer or "King Psamtik is good''. Already in the Old Kingdom, "good names" appeared; however, in the Saite Period, and particularly the reign of Psamtik II, "good names" associating an individual with the pharaoh were very popular.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Statue of Harbes, called Psamtiknefer, son of PtahhotepStatue of Harbes, called Psamtiknefer, son of PtahhotepStatue of Harbes, called Psamtiknefer, son of PtahhotepStatue of Harbes, called Psamtiknefer, son of PtahhotepStatue of Harbes, called Psamtiknefer, son of Ptahhotep

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.