THE LOWER TORSO OF A GRANITE ROYAL STATUE FROM DUWEYM WAD HAJ

Abstract

This contribution deals with the discovery of the torso of a royal statue in Duweym Wad Haj. The site might have a significant position on the route between Gebel Barkal and Meroe, via the Bayuda Desert. During the 2019 season the lower part of a seated life-size statue was discovered there by a survey. It represents a king wearing a short royal shendyt kilt, seated on a throne/chair of a rectangular shape. Its left side is concave and without decoration, the right one is broken. There is no inscription on the back pillar, because the statue was only roughly hewn in this part. It seems that the statue remained unfinished owing to a crack in the stone material. It is possible to presume that a sculpture workshop may have existed on the Duweym site during the Kushite period. However, it is also possible that the stone material was brought to Duweym from other sites, such as Sanam, Ghazali or Gebel Barkal.