SculptureEgyptian3rd millennium BCE

Relief fragment from the tomb of Niankhnesut: Two attendants carrying meat

2323-2150 BCE

Description

Carved in shallow raised relief and painted, this rectangular fragment from a wall relief depicts two men carrying cuts of meat. Much color is extant, including some red ochre used to indicate the men’s skin. The men walk to the right, each with their left foot forward; both men wear shorted belted kilts. The man on the right carries a cattle’s foreleg and shoulder over his left shoulder; ribs are suspended from a cord which is looped over his left elbow. The man on the left carries a hind leg across his shoulder; he carries a round or looped object, as yet unidentified, in his right hand. The cuts of meat that hang from the right elbow of the man on the right and from the left hand of the man of the left have not been identified. Above, a horizontal register line separates the scene below from an inscription in hieroglyphs.

Classification

Sculpture

Technique

Carved

Medium

limestone, paint

Culture

Egyptian

Period

Old Kingdom, Dynasty 6

Century

3rd millennium BCE

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics

Dimensions

47.8 x 44.8 cm (18 13/16 x 17 5/8 in.)

Provenance

Tomb of Niankhnesut, west of Step Pyramid, Saqqara, Egypt. [Jacob Hirsch, by 1929-1930], sold; through [Harold W. Parsons, New York, NY, February 14, 1930]; to Grenville L. Winthrop, (1930-1934), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1934.