Background:

King Djoser was the founder of 3rd Dynasty; the son of king xasxmwy and ni mAat HAb he ruled either for 19 or for 29 years. His coronation name was nTry Xt which means the divine body. The name Djoser was either known during his life time but was not used or it became famous during the Middle Kingdom; 12th Dynasty. He built for himself a mastaba at Beit Khalaf and a funerary complex at Saqqara designed and built by his vizier and physician imhtp. The importance of this complex lies in the fact that it contains a step pyramid which is considered to be the first true standing pyramid built out of limestone. The architectural elements contain a lot of information about the Hb sd festival.

The statue:

 It is the first life size statue to be found. It is made out of lime stone which is easy to modulate. It was covered with plaster and then painted; now only remains of colors still exist. It was found during 1924 – 1925 in the serdab attached to the last step of the pyramid from the north with an angle of 16°. The serdab had only two opening in front of the eyes of the statue to enable it to see his visitors and the outside world and to smell the incense and watch the northern star which is a symbol of eternity. The statue was transferred to the Egyptian museum and a replica is placed in the serdab

The king is represented sitting on a half back throne with all signs of royalty. He is wearing a thick straight heir wig, the nms head dress and the royal artificial beard. The ear is exposed to show the artistic accuracy. The facial features are so rigid to show that he was a semi-god. Most probably his eyes were inlaid but may be stolen or just fell off. The eyes reflect a distant look which may be directed to the horizon as kings were considered divine. A thin moustache appears on the upper lip which is unusual. The sculptor wanted to support the weak part of the body which is the neck by attaching it to the beard and the heir wig. He is represented wearing the jubilee garment, putting his right hand on his heart as a sign of following the orders of the heart as it was the seat of understanding to the ancient Egyptians and it is clinging as a sign of power. The left hand is resting on his lap as a sign of mercy. The clinging hand also might have been holding a seal or a handkerchief. The garment is not covering the shoulders, the feet which are bare and part of the hands but the rest of the body is covered to avoid the effort of representing the features of the body accurately.

The base of the statue:

There are hieroglyphic inscriptions on the base as follows:

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nswt bity: king of Upper and Lower Egypt

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nbti: the title of the two ladies

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nTry Xt: the divine body

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ra nbw: the meaning of this word is not certain