Colossus of Tutmosis III

Red granite. New Kingdom.
Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

The king kneels as he offers wine to the gods. Although a soldier born and bred, Tutmosis chose to represent himself as a humble servant of the gods. The type of this statue goes back to the Old Kingdom, Sixth Dynasty with the Kneeling Statuette of Pepi I in the Brooklyn Museum.

The long arc of Egyptian history shows the ever-increasing power of the priesthood - the temples were the economic engine of ancient Egypt. It would have been unthinkable for the earliest kings of Egypt, such as Djoser or Khafre, to represent themselves in such a servile manner.