Who's Who of Egyptian people, queens and family: Bek

Bek

Eighteenth Dynasty

Bek was the son of Men, the Chief Sculptor to King Amenhotep III. When Amenhotep IV-Akhenaten succeeded to the throne he appointed Bek to his father's position. Bek claimed that the king himself had instructed him in the manner in which his work was to be executed. in consequence he is credited with the development of the 'Amarna Style', the distinctive and often peculiar combination of the exceptionally mannered and the naturalistic. He is commemorated in a handsome stele, with his wife Taheret, now in the Egyptian Museum, Berlin. The stele is itself a very distinctive product, with the two figures contained within a naos but carved almost three-dimensionally. If, as would seem very possible, Bek himself carved the stele, this would be the oldest self-portrait known. Bek was succeeded as Chief Sculptor by Thutmose.At Aswan a carving on a granite boulder shows both Men and Bek together, respectively honoring statues of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten.

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Last Updated: June 20th, 2011