Royal statues of Amenhotep III and his great royal wife

The statues are pulled by a group of four priests riding sledges. These priests are outfitted in sandals, with wigs on the first four and shaven heads on the next four. Ameneminet, the “divine father in the temple of Amenhotep III,” stands behind the two groups, facing back and clutching a big feather fan. He would have had to participate in this ceremony of his living being on a regular basis as a fan-bearer.

The erect statue of King Neb-Maat-Re stands behind him. Neb-Maat-Re is dressed in a voluminous white tunic with fringed extremities and a belt around his waist. He wears a blue crown with a uraeus on top of his head. A big usekh necklace is draped across his chest. In his left hand, he has a long cane, and in his right, he holds a hedj club. Papyrus fronds are in full bloom on either side of his head (as they are for the queen).

A small sentence appears between the statue and the figure following behind it: “the sem- (priest) of Amenophium, Usermontu, just of voice.” This person is dressed in his office’s leopard skin. There’s another fan-bearer after him, with the name of Piay.

The queen, who is also standing on a pedestal, is the next statue. She, too, is dressed in a voluminous gown with fringed borders. She has an open lotus flower in one hand and a curved flagellum plant of queens in the other. A vulture is slung protectively over her head. Two enormous uraei on either side of a nepe, or water scorpion, are on a palette over her head. The water scorpion has no sting, but it can breathe by raising its tail above the water. The royal hat was to be made of gold, as there is no equivalent in the other graves. Behind the queen is a figure identified as “His son, Ptah-Sokaris’ divine father, Ptahmes.” “It’s all about the voice.” “His son, the wab-priest, Userhat, just of voice,” says the last member of the procession, holding a fan.