ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
A recent publication in The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology revealed an Old Kingdom limestone statue of a nobleman, possibly named Messi, formally published two years after its 2021 excavation at Saqqara.
The 1.03-meter work, carved from creamy local limestone, stood beside a ritual false door in a Fifth Dynasty tomb (circa 2465–2323 BCE). Former Egyptian antiquities minister Zahi Hawass led the study. “I found the statue hidden under the sand, and nearby was a false door inscribed with the name ‘Messi,’” said Hawass, according to ProTV News.
The composition shows the nobleman striding forward, a pose signifying strength. His wife kneels at his right leg in a gesture of devotion, while a smaller daughter appears in low relief behind his left calf, clutching a goose with its beak open. “It differs from other known family statues from the Old Kingdom because all the figures are sculpted in complete three-dimensionality, except for the daughter, who is presented in lower relief,” said Hawass, according to ProTV News. The varying scales reflect the ancient Egyptian convention of ranking social status through size.
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No titles or epithets appear on the statue itself; the name Messi derives solely from the adjacent door. Co-author Sarah Abdoh of Benha University noted that positioning the group beside the door created a single ritual focus where offerings could nourish the spirits and symbolize family reunion in the afterlife.
Art historians quoted by Live Science called the fusion of full-round sculpture and relief almost unknown in Fifth Dynasty work, arguing that the piece sheds light on workshop experimentation and an emerging interest in domestic themes.
Saqqara served as a royal and elite cemetery for millennia. Fifth Dynasty kings still built pyramids near Memphis, but later rulers turned to hidden tombs in Thebes; the last royal pyramid dated to Ahmose I (circa 1550–1525 BCE).
Conservation and 3-D scanning of the statue are planned, yet the limestone family remains at Saqqara, poised at the threshold between worlds.
“I found the statue hidden under the sand, and nearby was a false door inscribed with the name ‘Messi,’” said Zahi Hawass.
