Location
37 reserve heads are known, which includes five in private collections. In Abusir, a reserve head for a princess was found by Borchardt, and an ear possibly belonging to Kaaper was found in his tomb. Most of the reserve heads come from Giza. The reserve heads from Giza date from the mid 4th dynasty to early 5th dynasty.
| Mastaba | Image | Name of tomb owner | Time Period | Present location | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giza G 1203 |
Kanefer Overseer of Commissions, Director of Bowmen |
4th Dynasty (Khufu) | Hearst Museum, Berkeley 6-19767 | Head was found in burial shaft G 1203A. The head is thought to be female and may represent Kanefer's wife. | |
| Giza G 2110 |
Nefer Secretary of the king in all places, etc. |
4th Dynasty (Khafre) | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MFA 06.1886 | Head was found in burial shaft G 2110A, the burial shaft of Nefer. | |
| Giza G 2230 (D 38) |
Image at Giza Archive Image at Giza Archive - profile |
4th or 5th dynasty? | Egyptian Museum, Cairo JE 47838 | Reserve head possibly from D 38. | |
| Giza G 2230 (D 38) |
Image at Giza Archive | 4th or 5th dynasty? | Fragment, possibly originally from the serdab of G 2240 | ||
| Giza G 4140 |
Princess Meritites King's daughter of his body |
Mid to late 4th dynasty | Man: Boston Museum MFA 14.717 Wife: Egyptian Museum, Cairo JE 46217 |
The reserve heads were found in the debris of burial shaft G 4140A | |
| Giza G 4160 |
Image Giza Archive | 4th dynasty (Khufu) | Hildesheim Mus. 2158. | Male reserve-head, damaged, from débris west of tomb. | |
| Giza G 4240 |
Prince Sneferuseneb King's son of his body, etc. |
Mid 4th to early 5th dynasty | Cairo Museum JE 46215. | Head of Sneferuseneb found in burial shaf G 4240A | |
| Giza G 4340 |
Mid to late 4th dynasty | Cairo Museum JE 46218. | A Male reserve-head was found in the débris at bottom of shaft A | ||
| Giza G 4350 |
Mid to late 4th dynasty | Kunsthistorisches Museum ÄS 7787, Vienna. | Reserve-head found at entrance of burial chamber | ||
| Giza G 4430 |
4th dynasty, Khafre or later | A damaged reserve-head made of clay found in shaft A. | |||
| Giza G 4440 |
Mid 4th to early 5th dynasty | Man: Boston Museum MFA 14.718 Wife: Boston Museum MFA 14.719 |
The man may be a brother of Snefrusonb (tomb G 4240). Both heads were found in Shaft A. More recent opinion suggests that the head previously identified as the wife is a male | ||
| Giza G 4540 |
Mid to late 4th dynasty | Boston Museum MFA 21.328 | A Female reserve-head was found in shaft A | ||
| Giza G 4560 |
Image at Giza Archives | Mid to late 4th dynasty | Cairo Museum JE 44974 | A female reserve-head was found in the burial chamber. | |
| Giza G 4640 |
Mid to late 4th dynasty | Cairo Museum JE 46216 | Male reserve-head found in shaft A. | ||
| Giza G 4650 |
Image at Giza Archives | Princess Iabtet King's daughter of his body |
Mid to late 4th dynasty | Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim 2384 | Iabtet was a King’s daughter of his body. Reserve-head was found at the entrance of the burial chamber. |
| Giza G 4660 |
Mid to late 4th dynasty | Cairo Museum Temp. No. 19.11.24.5 | Reserve-head, badly weathered, found by Reisner east of tomb G 4560, possibly from G 4660. | ||
| Giza G 4940 (L45) |
Seshemnefer I overseer of royal works, director of the palace, etc. |
Early 5th dynasty | Boston Museum (MFA 21.329) | Limestone reserved head from shaft G 4940B | |
| Giza G 5020 Annex |
Egyptian Museum, Cairo JE 67569 | Limestone head found in the annex of G 5020. May originally come from G 4240. | |||
| Giza G 7560 |
Image at Giza Archive | Early 5th dynasty | Boston Museum (MFA 37.643) later MMA 48.156 | Limestone head found in shaft B. | |
| Giza Street G 7500 |
Image at Giza Archive | Boston Museum MFA 27.2010 | Limestone head found in street east of G 7530-7540 | ||
| Giza S 984 |
Image from Giza Archive | Tjentet and Wehemnefret | 5th dynasty | Egyptian Museum, Cairo | Clay reserve head. Wehemnefret may be a daughter of Wenshet (owner of G 4840). Wehemnefret has the title king's daughter (may refer to king's granddaughter here) |
| Giza East Field |
4th-5th dynasty | San Antonio Museum of Art | |||
| Giza East cemetery |
Image from Giza Archive | Egyptian Museum, Cairo JE 37832 | Limestone reserve head from unidentified mastaba | ||
| Unknown | 4th dynasty | Reserve head of a man on display at the Petrie Museum, London. (UC15988) | Its authenticity is disputed. | ||
| Unknown | 4th-5th dynasty | Ackland Art Museum 70.17.1 | A limestone reserve head. | ||
| Memphis? | Image from Swansea Website | 5th-6th dynasty | Swansea University of Wales (W164) | Purchased by Sir Henry Wellcome at a Sotheby's auction in 1928. According the Egypt Centre's website the reserve head comes from Memphis and dates to the 4th dynasty. | |
| Abusir or Saqqara? | 5th-6th dynasty | In private possession in Belgium as of 1991 | Thought to represent a woman and possibly from Abusir or Saqqara. | ||
| Abusir | Kahotep | Old Kingdom | Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin (Berlin 16455) | Reserve-head of Kahotep found at Abusir - Old Kingdom | |
| Abusir | Kaaper | 5th dynasty | An ear belonging to the reserve head was discovered in the burial chamber. |
Examples of reserve heads can be found at the following museums:
- Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin
- Egyptian Museum, Cairo
- Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London
- Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
- San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas
- Swansea University
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