21 Diorite statue of King Chephren

Diorite statue of King Chephren (Khafre), builder of the second pyramid. Its remarkable state of preservation, its grandeur and the motif of the hawk, emblematical of his mythological ancestors, protecting his head with her outstretched wings, all combine to rank it first in the statuary of ancient Egypt. It was found at the bottom of a wall near the gateway of his valley-temple 'the temple of the sphinx'. Giza, 4th dynasty.