Screen slab of King Psamtek I

myminifactory

This is a screen slab showing King Psamtek I. On this side, he kneels making offerings to fearsome-looking deities that include a double-headed bull god and a snake. The majority hold long knives, meant to guard a sacred space located behind this wall. Most Egyptian depictions of people are high idealized, but here the king's unflattering features suggest a rare attempt at true portraiture. This deviation from the norm is repeated on a similar screen slab made three centuries later. Both slabs were part of one structure in the temple of Atum at Heliopolis. The bottom design is a palace facade. A frieze of cobras at the top represents Wadjyt, heraldic goddess of Lower Egypt. The reverse had a frieze of vultures: Nekhbet of Upper Egypt. On that side, Psamtek offered, but his figure, now effaced, was more prostrate.