?Why were so many of the noses of some Egyptian statues destroyed
?Why were the noses of Egyptian statues broken
?Why did Egyptian statues break their noses
Have you noticed that there are many ancient Egyptian statues that do not have noses or have broken noses!
There is no doubt that the architecture and sculpture of ancient Egypt are monuments that represent the great historical value of one of the most wonderful civilizations that ever existed in history.
But experts ask themselves many questions related to the life and customs of the ancient Egyptians. Why were the noses of some Egyptian statues broken?
The ancient Egyptians had a great ability for sculpture and art in general, and their architectural prowess is evident in the construction of the great pyramids, the Sphinx, and hundreds of wonderful temples with a unique and elaborate geometric design, including, for example, the Temple of Ramesses II, in which the sun is perpendicular to the king’s face on two days a year, namely the day of his birth. And on the day you become king, likewise, they were prominent in sculpting countless statues that praised the pharaohs, religious figures, and members of high society.
However, many of these statues belonging to this ancient civilization have one thing in common: they do not have a nose.
You may think this is due to wear and tear due to the pieces being thousands of years old, or that they are simply damaged or affected by corrosion.
Edward Bleiberg, a curator at the Egyptian Museum in Brooklyn, investigated why many of these statues had no noses.
Bleiberg discovered a widespread pattern of deliberate destruction of most defaced Egyptian works.
?Why only the nose
There could be multiple reasons for these acts of vandalism, and the regular patterns on the damaged sculptures indicate that they were “deliberate,” Bleiberg said. But why were only the statues’ noses destroyed or broken and not other body parts, such as the eyes, for example?
Why were the noses of Egyptian statues broken?
These statues had their noses broken because many ancient Egyptians believed the statues had a life force.
“The similarity of the pattern in the destruction of statues' noses suggests that they have a benefit, which is nothing other than disrupting the power of the image or statue,” Bleiberg says.
The Egyptians gave images great power. They believed that the essence and power of a god could inhabit the image that represented him.
For this reason, it was concluded that the best way, for them, to end the power and strength of these “hostile” images was to break the statue’s nose, which is how one breathes and sustains life. .
Although the ancient Egyptians knew that statues could not move and wander, just as it was understood that these works made of stone or wood could not literally breathe.
Adela Oppenheim, curator of Egyptian art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, notes:
“They knew that the gnomes were not breathing air, they could see it... In another idea, the gnomes have a life force that is obtained through the nose, so you breathe.”
?Who destroyed the noses of statues
The belief that statues had the life force was so widespread that it motivated various hostile believers and perhaps in different eras to extinguish this power when necessary.
“They basically had to kill him, and the best way to do that was where he was breathing,” Oppenheim said.
Edward Bleiberg also points out that a series of texts from ancient Egypt describe the pharaoh’s concern about his images being damaged and the measures he took to protect them from attack. Various pharaohs also issued decrees imposing harsh punishments on anyone who dared to threaten their statues.
?Why are so many ancient Egyptian statues without noses
According to the results of Bleiberg's study, the people who performed these mutilations: “were not vandals and did not act randomly,” indicating that they were skilled workers trained in this trade due to the precision of the chisels.
Oppenheim added that in some cases nature may have done damage to the statues' noses over the years; However, you can usually tell if the nose has been intentionally damaged by looking at the cut marks on the statue.
The motives for the destruction of these statues remain unknown. However, it is believed that mostly religious, personal, criminal and political reasons - to rewrite history in favor of a new pharaoh - were the cause of this act of vandalism.
Source: websites