Kneeling Statue of Yuny

Yuny is portrayed kneeling, clad in a nobleman’s robe, wig, and sandals. His eyes and brows, which were once inlays, are now missing. He carries a shrine with an image of the god Osiris between his knees and outstretched arms. This is one of two statues of Yuny unearthed in the New Kingdom necropolis of Asyut, in or near the tomb-chapel of his father, the head physician Amenhotep. Following his father’s death, Yuny most likely commissioned the church. Graffiti on the chapel’s walls indicate that it was a centre of pilgrimage during the Ramesside period, possibly by pilgrims seeking Yuny’s father’s help in treating diseases. Although Yuny’s monuments do not list him as a “physician” or “chief physician,” he most likely followed in his father’s footsteps in that field, as he did in most of his other positions. The term “overseer of Sakhmet’s lay-priests” appears on this statue, indicating his connection to the medical profession.