Art 03100
Section 01
Professor Ackerman
Museum Paper
5/12/13
When I visited the Brooklyn Museum, I got to see many different works of art. While looking around on the 3rd floor, there was one specific piece that caught my attention, “King Senwosret III”. King Senwosret III was a 12th Dynasty King that ruled from c. 1836-1818 BCE. King Senwosret III was considered to be one of the most powerful rulers during the middle kingdom. This small, black granite sculpture that caught my eye is of him. It was created during the time of the middle kingdom. It is not known for sure, but this artwork is believed to be from Hierakonpolis, Egypt. During this time period, sculptures of kings depicted a more real look. The Middle Kingdom lasted from c. 1975-1640 BCE. Art was very important to the Egyptian culture. The sculpture of King Senwosret III has certain characteristics that make it obvious to see that it is an Egyptian work. King Senwosret III is seated in the sculpture, which was a traditional pose that is seen in many other Egyptian artworks. Another characteristic of Egyptian art seen in “King Senwosret III” is that he is looking straight. King Senwosret III has good posture and looks very stiff which was popular in sculptures during this time period. It is very easy to recognize that this is Egyptian art because of these characteristics. Just like many other pieces of art, this sculpture has many symbols. King Senwosret III is shown with a very firm body, this symbolizes that he is powerful. He is wearing a head cloth called a nemes. Pharaohs in ancient Egypt wore Nemes. The nemes is another symbol to show the kings power. On the front of the nemes there is a cobra. The cobra represents that he is royalty. King Senwosret III is wearing a short kilt, which was traditional Egyptian royal clothing so that is also used to show he is royalty. If you look down at his feet, under them you see nine bows. These nine bows are also symbolic. They