Relief of Akhethotep Limestone, 36 1/8 x 23 11/16 in. (91.8 x 60.2 cm) Early Old Kingdom, Late Dynasty 3 - Early Dynasty 4 Excavated from Saqqara Brooklyn #57.178, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund Photo © Joan Lansberry, 2008-2016

(from the info card) "This relief depicts Akhty-hotep, an Old Kingdom official, in a simple wrapped kilt and a short, curly wig. The tall walking stick and paddlelike baton indicate his official status. Akhty-hotep's name appears in hieroglyphs in front of his face and also, partially preserved, above him to the left. Egyptians believed that, in addition to tomb statues, images like this one could house the dead owner's spirit. The high, bold carving typifies relief of the early Old Kingdom." Notice the scepter (aka 'paddlelike baton') Akhtihotep has: The sekhem scepter "donates the concept of 'power' and 'might.' The word sekhem could thus refer to divine beings as 'powers,' and the name of the warlike lion goddess Sekhmet means, in fact, 'She of Might.'" From the Third Dynasty on, the sekhem appears in the royal names of kings, and later in the titles of queens and princesses also. But from thea earliest times the sekhem was also delegated, as a baton of office, to viziers and others of important rank. Such persons are often shown bearing the scepter in the fulfillment of their duties." (Illustration and quote from _Reading Egyptian Art_, by Richard H. Wilkinson, pages 182-183) See, too, the Ahkethotep reliefs at the Metropolitan museum