Why do so many Egyptian statues have broken noses? Julia Wolkoff summarizes the answer of Brooklyn Museum curator Edward Bleiberg. Noses protrude, and so are more apt to be knocked off accidentally, but the pattern is too consistent to be accident. Erosion could account for some, but not all. Bleiberg sees a religious motivation behind the destruction.

Egyptians "ascribed important powers to images of the human form. They believed that the essence of a deity could inhabit an image of that deity, or, in the case of mere mortals, part of that deceased human being’s soul could inhabit a statue inscribed for that particular person."

Thus, "statues and reliefs were 'a meeting point between the supernatural and this world' . . . only inhabited, or 'revivified,' when the ritual is performed." If a statue was damaged, the damaged part could no longer perform its function: "Without a nose, the statue-spirit ceases to breathe, so that the vandal is effectively 'killing' it. To hammer the ears off a statue of a god would make it unable to hear a prayer."

Reforming rulers also had an interest in defacing statues. If they introduced a modification of the cult, they disabled the images of previously dominant gods, so they wouldn't be able to interfere.

In the light of biblical imagery of noses, I wonder if there are other dimensions to this. A statue without a nose can't breathe; it can't smell either. Aroma is a critical part of Levitical offerings, perhaps in other ancient cultures as well. Perhaps the logic is: a god who can't smell can't receive sacrifice.

Did the Egyptians believe that their gods' noses burned when they became angry, as Yahweh's does? If so, then breaking the nose would prevent the god from being aroused to indignation. It would permanently cool his nose.

(Thanks to Jeff Meyers for pointing me to the article.)