King Menkaure and QueenIn this sandstone sculpture made around 2500 B.C.E., the king and his wife look serenely toward the horizon. Stability and permanence were qualities prized by Egyptians in the Old Kingdom, and the sculptor captures them here. The figures are almost equal in size, suggesting the important role that queens sometimes played. (King Menkaura (Mycerinus) and queen. Egyptian, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Menkaura, 2490–2472 B.C. Findspot: Egypt, Giza, Menkaura Valley Tample. Greywacke. Overall: 142.2 × 57.1 × 55.2 cm, 676.8 kg (56 × 22½ × 21¾ in., 1492.1 lb.). Block (Wooden skirts and two top): 53.3 × 180 × 179.7 cm (21 × 70⁷/₈ × 70¾ in.). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition. 11.1738. Photograph © 2013 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.)