Albert Fehrenbacher (German, 1911–2005). <em>Modern Reconstruction of a New Kingdom Temple</em>. Plaster, 42 1/2 × 34 1/2 × 44 in. (108 × 87.6 × 111.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 66.228. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 66.228_front_PS22.jpg)

Albert Fehrenbacher (German, 1911–2005). Modern Reconstruction of a New Kingdom Temple. Plaster, 42 1/2 × 34 1/2 × 44 in. (108 × 87.6 × 111.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 66.228. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 66.228_front_PS22.jpg)

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What is this?

You're looking at a modern reconstruction, of an Ancient Egyptian model gateway of a temple! Do you see a similar slab of stone next to it?

Yes

That's the original, ancient model! It's a slab of quartzite that has been decorated and carved with sockets to emulate the layout of a full-scale temple gateway. The reliefs around the stone tell us that the model was dedicated by the pharaoh Seti I to three sun deities of Heliopolis: Kheperi, Re-Horakhty, and Atum.

Is there a king in this castle?

What you're looking at is a actually a modern replica of what scholars think a model temple gateway would have looked like. Nearby, you can see the original stone base that this model is based on.

This model likely served a ceremonial purpose. From the inscriptions we were able to tell that what types of statues and what materials to use.

Tell me more about the "Modern Reconstruction of a New Kingdom Model of a Temple Gateway".

This reconstruction, made in 1966 from plaster, is based on the base of a model of a temple gateway on viewnext to it. The reconstruction was designed based on the inscriptions on the stone votive and on known examples of New Kingdom temples.

The original base is carved from quartzite, and was dedicated to three sun deities, Kheperi, Re-Horakhty, and Atum, all associated with the city of Heliopolis. It was dedicated to these deities by the Pharaoh Seti I.

When it was complete, the votive model was made of materials like limestone, bronze, and greywacke; bronze and greywacke would not have been used in the construction of a lifesize temple. The original purpose of the votive model, beyond being dedicated to the three sun gods mentioned above, is unknown. It may have been made to be placed in a temple or to buried as a votive.

From these two objects, you can get a good idea of how a typical entrance to a New Kingdom temple might look.

That said, it is not known whether the exact temple modeled in the votive model was ever actually constructed.

Ok thanks! That was very helpful

My 7yr old wants to know: what do the crossed arms mean?

The crossed arms makes the king look more like a mummy. That, combined with the things that he is holding, make him look like the god Osiris.

Osiris was the mythical first king of Egypt. In the myth, he was killed and was then the first person to be mummified. Egyptian kings wanted to be like Osiris because he was said to be a very good king.

Modern Reconstruction of a New Kingdom Temple

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

This reconstruction was worked up from the early Nineteenth Dynasty base of a model temple gateway in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum (acc. no. 49.183) decorated with representations of King Sety I making offerings. The bottom of this model has been cast from the original and painted brown to match its quartzite stone. The statues, flagstaffs, pylon, and sidewalls, all of which were lost from the original, have been reconstructed to fit the depressions in the base. The result simulates the basic elements of a typical approach to a temple of the New Kingdom.

MAKER Albert Fehrenbacher, German, 1911–2005

MEDIUM Plaster

PERIOD Modern

DIMENSIONS 42 1/2 × 34 1/2 × 44 in. (108 × 87.6 × 111.8 cm) mount: 40 × 34 × 44 in. (101.6 × 86.4 × 111.8 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 66.228

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Albert Fehrenbacher (German, 1911–2005). Modern Reconstruction of a New Kingdom Temple. Plaster, 42 1/2 × 34 1/2 × 44 in. (108 × 87.6 × 111.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 66.228. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 66.228_front_PS22.jpg)

IMAGE front, 66.228_front_PS22.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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