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Relief from the tomb of Mentuemhat
Artwork Viewer
No person in late Egyptian history stands out more clearly than Mentuemhat, the fourth priest of Amun, mayor of Thebes, and governor of Upper Egypt (in the south). The son of a prominent Theban family, his tomb was one of the largest ever constructed in Egypt for a nonroyal. This fragment of a delicately cut wall relief from his tomb in western Thebes, (with most of its original paint intact) contains portions of scenes from two registers. The lower scene shows part of a long line of offerings brought to Mentuemhat: A man and a woman carry baskets of produce on their heads with an inscription designating the contents of the baskets and the owner of the provisions. The upper register shows a man kneeling on the ground at a small, slanted table while cutting open a fish with a large knife. Facing him is a display of prepared fish.
- Title
- Relief from the tomb of Mentuemhat
- Date
- Dynasties 25-26, ca. 660 BC
- Place of Creation
- Thebes
- 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