This 14th-century B.C. basalt sculptural group is among the rare works to have survived from the period that followed the collapse of the religious reforms of Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton). The group depicts the mighty Theban grandee Amenemheb with his wife and mother. The women are wearing the characteristic fine clothing of noble Egyptian women of the era. On the heads of the figures are heavy, elaborate wigs made up of a multitude of fine plaits and wreathes of lotus petals. The hieroglyphic inscriptions on their clothing inform us that Amenemheb, the Governor of Thebes, occupied several important posts in the country simultaneously, including the position of head of the granaries at the temple of the god Amon-Ra in Karnak, the main sacred site in the country. The sculpture has as its background a stele bearing the text of prayers from the "Book of the Dead". Egyptians placed statues of this kind, depicting family groups, in tombs.