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Social Sharing
Relief from the tomb of Mentuemhat
Dynasties 25–26, ca. 660 BC
Artwork Viewer
Mentuemhat dominated the political scene of late Kushite Egypt (Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, ca. 675–665 BC). As high-ranking Fourth Prophet of Amun, mayor of Thebes, and governor of Upper Egypt, he commanded enormous resources that enabled him to construct an immense and lavish tomb in the Asasif district of western Thebes. This fragment, which retains most of its original paint, comes from one of the subterranean chambers. It preserves elements of what was a much longer cycle of scenes in sculpted relief representing the wealth of offerings that the funerary cult of Mentuemhat required. The style of the work is archaistic (a common feature during this period), emulating the painted reliefs found in the oblong, bench-shaped mastaba tombs of the Old Kingdom. Figures carry food baskets on their heads, with descriptions in columns of inscriptions beside them. The man’s burden includes cucumbers, loaves of bread, and a large head of lettuce. The woman carries bunches of grapes; her yellow, lighter complexion reflects the age-old approach to depicting females whose privileged status limited damaging exposure to the hot sun. The man kneeling before a slanted table fillets a blue-tailed fish. In front of him, similar fish are displayed.
- Culture
- Egyptian
- Title
- Relief from the tomb of Mentuemhat
- Date
- Dynasties 25–26, ca. 660 BC
- Object Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- Limestone with polychromy
- Dimensions
- 15 1/8 x 16 1/2 x 1 7/8 in. (38.418 x 41.91 x 4.763 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum
- Accession Number
- 51.4.2