Haremhab as a Scribe of the King
Dynasty 18, reign of Tutankhamun of Ay, ca. 1336-1323 B.C.
Gray granite
Probably from Memphis


Haremhab, a great general and a powerful official under
Kings Tutankhamun and Ay, is bending over a papyrus scroll
on which he has written a hymn to the god Thoth, patron of scribes.
Around the base is an inscription listing several of Haremhab's
titles and accomplishments. Not long after this statue was carved
Haremhab assumed the throne as the last king of Dynasty 18.
Although not of royal descent himself, he may have established a
connection to the royal family of the Eighteenth Dynasty by marrying
Queen Nefertiti's sister Mutnedjmet.

Haremhab's features offer an excellent example of the style that
emerged with the reign of Tutankhamun: youthful, distant, and
elegantly beautiful, with a very defined and formal elements.
Although his drooping belly is attributable to the style of the
Amarna period, his body is in fact intended to be that of a
middle-aged scribe, grown flabby and bowed by a life of constant study.

from: Metropolitan Museum