12th Dynasty statue
- Gallery: Room 4
- Culture: 12th Dynasty
- Date: 1874BC-1855BC (circa)
- Object type: statue
- Materials: granodiorite
- Museum number: EA686
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
This is a granite-like granodiorite statue of Senusret III, a powerful Egyptian ruler from the 12th Dynasty. The statue shows him in a prayerful stance, standing with his hands raised toward the sky. His head is covered with a nemes headdress featuring a uraeus — a symbol of divine authority. Intricate pleats decorate his kilt, and a fan-like pattern marks the front panel, tucked neatly under his belt.
A key detail is the cartouche on his belt — a ring-shaped emblem containing his name in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Below it, a beaded panel with carved cobras adds symbolic protection. His face is strikingly detailed: from sharp cheekbones and a squared chin to the deep lines around his eyes and mouth. The statue’s realism and the subtle textures on the king’s torso make it a remarkable work of ancient art.
This piece was discovered in the ruins of Mentuhotep II’s temple and is one of only four surviving statues of Senusret III with a complete head.
See it in person
12th Dynasty statue is on display in Room 4 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
New, in beta. British Museum support has just launched and is still improving: over 1,000 objects so far, with more added all the time.
