MIDDLE KINGDOM, 12TH-13TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1976-1656 B.C.

Employing the iconic representation of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt known as early as the Old Kingdom, this pair of fragments of limestone in shallow sunk relief depicts two fecundity figures actively grasping the stems of emblematic plants associated with the north and south: the papyrus (on the right) and the water lily (on the left). Each deity wears the hieroglyphic form of each region’s plant atop his head, while the curving ends of the stalks tied together feature the distinctive forms of the papyrus umbel and lily flower. The fragments are broken down the center where the plants were tied, around a hieroglyphic representation of the sign sema, meaning unification, a hieroglyph formed from the image of the human trachea and lungs. Fragmentary inscriptions in sunk relief provide a portion of the typical text accompanying such scenes: “[I am giving] to you the two lands…” A curious feature of this composition is the notably different style of rendering of the faces of the two Nile deities: the face of the figure on the right representing Lower Egypt bears the hallmarks of developed 12^th Dynasty royal portraits during the reign of Amenemhet III and after, while the features of the figure on the left are noticeably softer and less defined, and no chin-strap is indicated for the beard, possibly due to re-carving in this area. Even the bodies are different: that on the right displays the corpulence which the ancient Egyptians associated with the bounty of the Nile, while the deity on the left is slimmer. Egyptian sculptors frequently shared responsibility for carving a stela or complex scene with a second artist, and accordingly it is not impossible that a second hand was at work on this relief, which most likely was part of a royal temple building, perhaps part of a scene depicting the royal throne. The deeply recessed areas at top and center may have been additionally received inlays, given the deeper nature of the relief in those sections.
For a discussion of the iconography see J. Baines, Fecundity Figures. Egyptian Personification and the Iconology of a Genre, Warminster, 1985.