Gudea Seated, Holding the Plan of a Temple, is similar to Khafre Enthroned in the objects they represent. Both works of art were made to symbolize the power of leaders in their respective cultures. Gudea Seated has the temple plan to designate his spiritual power among his people, while Khafre Enthroned wears the ceremonial headpiece worn by pharaohs in Egypt. In addition, both images feature kings seated on their thrones, and their upright posture indicates the presence of their followers.
Differences between Gudea Seated and Khafre Enthroned are reflected in their sizes, cultures, stylistic expressions, and function. Khafre is around 66 inches tall and was made in 2570 B.C, while Gudea is only 29 and was created in 2100 B.C (Calvert, 2015; Harris & Zucker, 2017). Gudea was curved out of diorite, while Khafre was made from a similar, harder, more valuable variation of dark stone called anorthosite gneiss. Nevertheless, both stones are extremely hard, enabling the sculptures to last hundreds of years. While both statues are seated and upright, Gudea Seated has clasped his hands in prayer while Khafre Enthroned has his hands straight rested on his laps.
Each of the pieces of art represents its unique culture. Gudea was a leader of Lagash who was mainly recognized for building temples and giving gifts to the gods (Harris & Zucker, 2017). In the sculpture, he is holding a temple plan, while the writings around his throne tell of a dream in which he received instructions to build a temple. Therefore, the sculpture shows Gudea’s leadership philosophy as one of pleasing the gods to make the citizens happy. Khafre’s sculpture was used to substitute for Pharaoh’s ka in the tomb (Calvert, 2015). Ka is the life force that Egyptians believed left the body for the afterlife but needed a statue for a resting place.
References
Calvert, A. (2015). Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Sphinx.Smarthistory. Web.
Harris, B. & Zucker, S. (2017). Seated Gudea holding temple plan. Smarthistory. Web.