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| This is the dyad of Neye and his mother, Mutnofret. Perhaps, the Ney (or Nay) of the dyad is the same one as is depicted on a limestone slab from Saqqara. The names are spelled the same. The Memphite priest of Sekhmet and his wife have the profile of Seti I and the relief has been dated to the 19th Dynasty. It is in the Hanover Kestner Museum.. Also from the reign of Seti I, the above sculpture evidences the usually-stressed features of the pharaoh in the face of Neye. It may be that this group is from quite late in the reign as we now perhaps see a change in the wig of the female, already tending toward the long, divided wig , hanging down to the breast, that is so much a feature of the reign of Ramesses II. However, it may just be that the wig was uniformly raised at each shoulder in order to accomodate the lifting of the arm that was placed around the back of the male on one side. (This sometimes happened with ladies wigs in images in the round in previous eras.) At any rate, the wig does appear to be getting longer. It is interesting that both male and female are painted the same dark-brown color and that Neye's mother does not have the face of Seti I, but was perhaps allowed to resemble the queen, instead--or perhaps even be shown with her own features. This last may have been the start of a trend that is seen in the reign of Ramesses II, as well. For example, while the coffins of males found in thetomb of Sennedjem definitely bear the intimidating face of Ramesses II, the female coffins do not. It may be that the sculptors realized the hawk-faced Ramesside pharaohs were really not suitable for ladies to be modeled upon.The only woman I have ever noticed who was depicted as resembling Ramesses II was his daughter, Meryet-amun, in her "White Queen" statue--but she may have looked like her father in actuality. Note the long-sleeved arm and the affectionate position of the arms of the pair. GO TO NEXT IMAGE. |