18th Dynasty Head of a Pharaoh, Possibly Amenhotep III, Wearing the Blue Crown

Eighteenth Dynasty Stone Head of a Pharaoh, possibly Amenhotep III, the body of the statue now lost.

The king wears the khepresh, also known as the blue crown or the war crown, a royal headdress which is rounded at the top and features a flared ridge on the reverse that slopes down on either side of the crown above the ears.

New Kingdom pharaohs are often depicted wearing it in battle, but it was also frequently worn in ceremonies. During the 18th and 19th Dynasties it came into fashion and was even adopted by some pharaohs as their primary crown.

The body of the uraeus cobra sits along the centre of the crown above the forehead of the king, with circular coils of its body and its long tail reaching back over the top of the crown. Underneath the uraeus, an incised horizontal band runs across the edge of the crown. The king is depicted with arched eyebrows and elongated narrow eyes which extend out to the temples. The eyes are particularly slanted at the outer edges. The nose is slim and the mouth is full with thick lips.