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.
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.
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