The Theophorous Statuary of Ramses III and the Development of this Statue Type During the New Kingdom

This article discusses the royal theophorous statues of the New Kingdom, in order to reassess their development and significance in the light of those of Ramses III. The theophores of this king are examined: two are published in detail (Cairo CG 890 and Cairo JE 37472), a base discovered at Qasr Ibrim (Registration Number 76/95) is identified as that of a theophore, and a statue uncovered from the Karnak Cachette (Cairo RT 12/1/41/3) is briefly considered. Together with one discovered in the Temple of Mut at Karnak in 2002, the theophorous statues of Ramses III represent five out of a total of eight royal examples known from the 20 th Dynasty. This not only confirms that theophorous statuary was typical of the 20 th Dynasty, but also reveals the importance of the reign of Ramses III as a catalyst for its development.