STATUE OF THE KA OF TUTANKHAMUN

WOOD PAINTED WITH SHINY BLACK RESIN AND GILDED, BRONZE HEIGHT 192 CM, LENGTH 98 CM, WIDTH 53.3 CM

These two life-size statues of Tutankhamun stood facing one another on either side of the burial chamber.The color of the skin assimilates the king to the god Osiris whose face is black the color of deities of the Afterlife or green like plant life to symbolize the eternal cycle of death and resurrection.The buckle on the belt of the other statue gives the king's coronation name Nebkheperura and the inscription "The perfect god filled with glory, a king to be proud of, the royal ka of Horakhty, Osiris, and Lord of the Two Lands, Nebkheperura, justified." The ka a fundamental component of the person together with the ba (an animated manifestation of the deceased) and the akh (the transfigured spirit) is a sort of vital force that keeps the individual alive both on earth and in the Afterlife. The ka needs a physical support to survive, i.e. a mummified body. The "statues of the ka" averted destruction of the body by providing the soul with an incorruptible resting place.