\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 Egypt has provided us with numerous statuettes representing family groups, all of them from the Old Kingdom. This small group in paint
ed limestone is part of an extensive series of married couples embracing or holding hands, which includes a wooden statuette that is also in the Louvre.\par
Here the woman, Merseankh, is clasping her husband Raherka, with her right arm around his should
ers and placing her left hand on his side, an attitude that conveys an impression of trust and intimacy.\par
The woman is wearing a long dress of white linen, the man the customary short skirt. Both are wearing wigs, a symbol of high social status.
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Raherka was probably a high official. The calm and serene expressions on the coupleÆs faces appear to reflect the confidence that comes with prosperity.\par
Even the flaunting of their ties of affection had a social function: celebrating the stability
and continuity of the family.\par
In spite of a certain fixity and conventionality in the faces, the modeling is excellent, bearing in mind the antiquity of this sculpture, which dates from around 2500 BC.
