Zahi hawass
Messi will be the name of the noble man portrayed in the statue, dated from the Egyptian V Dynasty. The statue is unique by mixing various styles.
Archaeologists discovered a rare and “incomparable” funeral statue In the necropolis of Saqqara, in Egypt, representing a nobleman alongside what seem to be his wife and daughter.
The sculpture in limestone, with just over 103 centimeters highdates back to V Dynasty (about 2465–2323 BC), a period marked by the construction of the large Egyptian pyramids.
The central figure shows the noble with the left leg extended forward, a traditional symbol of youth and vitality in Egyptian art. Beside him, a smaller, kneeling woman-probably his wife-clings to his right leg. Behind the left paw, a girl, presumably her daughter, holds a goose with her beak open as if she was Grasnar.
The statue was unearthed in 2021, near a FALSE DOOR WITH THE REGISTRATION “MESSI”according to Zahi Hawass, former Minister of Antiquities of Egypt and co -author of May in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. For those who think Messi’s inscription would be an millennial premonition about the Argentine soccer player, everything seems to be a coincidence, as investigators believe that “Messi” would be the name of the noble. False doors were common in the tombs, believing that they allowed the Spirit to move between the world of the living and the afterlife.
“The statue can symbolize a connection with the familysuggesting that they would meet in the beyond, as they did in life, ”explained Hawass. The daughter’s goose, he added, reflects scenes from everyday life often carved on the walls of the tombs, further emphasizing the continuity between earthly existence and eternity.
A striking aspect of the discovery is your artistic approach. While the nobleman and his wife are totally sculpted in relief, the daughter is shown in high relief, fixed on the surface behind the man’s leg. This mixture of two sculptural traditions in a single monument is highly unusual to the ancient empire.
The disproportionate sizes of the figures also reflect cultural norms. In ancient Egyptian art, the size often denoted status: the rulers and the owners of tombs were portrayed as significantly larger than their relatives or assistants.
“The discovery of this statue is incomparable in the field of Egyptian art,” said Hawass, quoted by. “It stands out from other known family statues of the period, making it a unique masterpiece of innovation.”
