Bek (sculptor)
Bek or Bak (Egyptian for "Servant") was the first chief royal sculptor during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten. His father Men held the same position under Akhenaten's father Amenhotep III; his mother Roi was a woman from Heliopolis.
Bek grew up in Heliopolis, an important cult centre of the sun god Ra. The young prince Amenhotep (who became the pharaoh Akhenaten) had a palace here, and it is likely that his religious views were formed in part by the Heliopolitan teachings. Bek followed his lord to Akhet-Aten, the city founded by Akhenaten. He oversaw the construction of the great temple statues of the king and the opening of the Aswan and Gebel es-Silsila stone quarries, from where the stone was transported.
A stela found in Aswan, made around the 9th regnal year of Akhenaten shows Men and his son Bek with the pharaohs they serve. On the right side Men stands before the statue of Amenhotep III. The statue is very likely to be one of the colossi of the pharaoh that was made by Men. This side of the stela reflects the traditional artistic style of the 18th dynasty, and the only indication of the Amarna period is that the name "Amenhotep" is left out, instead of it the pharaoh's throne name "Nebmaatre" is repeated, in order to avoid having to mention the god Amun whose cult was forbidden. On the left side of the stela Bek is shown before Akhenaten, who makes offerings to his god Aten; according to the inscription the depicted scene is set in the Great Temple of the Aten. A typical feature of Amarna era pictures, the rays of Aten end in hands. Aten's and Akhenaten's name was later chiseled out.
Bek
Bek or BEK may refer to:
Sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sculptural processes originally used carving (the removal of material) and modelling (the addition of material, as clay), in stone, metal, ceramics, wood and other materials but, since modernism, shifts in sculptural process led to an almost complete freedom of materials and process. A wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or molded, or cast.
Sculpture in stone survives far better than works of art in perishable materials, and often represents the majority of the surviving works (other than pottery) from ancient cultures, though conversely traditions of sculpture in wood may have vanished almost entirely. However, most ancient sculpture was brightly painted, and this has been lost.
Sculpture has been central in religious devotion in many cultures, and until recent centuries large sculptures, too expensive for private individuals to create, were usually an expression of religion or politics. Those cultures whose sculptures have survived in quantities include the cultures of the Ancient Mediterranean, India and China, as well as many in South America and Africa.
