男性像(ウェパイ像)だんせいぞう

  • エジプト 中王国時代
  • 前二千年紀初期

エジプトでは個人の墓の地下にミイラを収める玄室が作られ、地上には石でできた礼拝堂が建てられた。礼拝堂には死者の魂が宿るための彫像が収められたが、それらは通常永遠に美しく若々しい姿に作られた。この像の台座には「(オシリスの)祝福を受けし者ウェパイ」と刻んであり、墓主の葬儀が遺族によって盛大に行われたことを証している。四千年前頃から王でなくともミイラとして遺体を葬ることが広まり、オシリスの良き審判を受ければ幸福な死後の生活が約束された。オシリスの恩寵を受けたウェパイの顔には、充実したほほえみが感じられる。

Catalogue Entry

Personal tombs in ancient Egypt were built with an underground burial chamber to house the deceased’s mummified body and an aboveground chapel made of stone. A sculpted figure of the deceased would be placed in the chapel as a dwelling place for his or her soul, and in most cases the figure depicted the deceased in an image of eternal youth and beauty. The base of the present statuette bears the inscription “Wepay, the blessed” (meaning blessed by Osiris), from which we can surmise that the deceased’s family gave him a grand funeral service. From around four thousand years ago the practice of burying the dead as mummies, formerly reserved for pharaohs, spread to other strata of society, and it was believed that the souls of the dead whom Osiris judged worthy were guaranteed a blissful afterlife. As a beneficiary of the grace of Osiris, Wepay is depicted here with what seems a smile of spiritual fulfillment.