ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Tomb Relief

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodOld Kingdom, Dynasty 5 - Dynasty 6

Date2435-2152 BCE

MediumLimestone

Credit LineCharlotte Lichirie Collection of Egyptian Art by exchange

Dimensions15 3/4 x 7 1/8 x 1 1/2" (40 x 18.1 x 3.8 cm)

Object number2005.043.001

Label TextPrivate tombs were often decorated with relief scenes of daily life such as the production of food, craftsmen at work, and stages of agriculture. This relief fragment shows a man sharpening a knife, suggesting it came from a larger scene of animal butchering. Food stuffs would have been used during funerary rituals, but scenes like butchering would also ensure the deceased would be provided with meat for eternity.
Exhibition HistoryFrom Pharaohs to Emperors: New Egyptian and Classical Antiquities at Emory, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 2, 2006
Life and Death in the Pyramid Age: The Emory Old Kingdom Mummy, Michael C. Carlos Museum, September 10 - December 11, 2011
Hall of Ancient Egypt, The Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas, August 2014 - June 9, 2026
Published ReferencesSotheby's London, Antiquities (21st May 1992), 14, plate X, lot 85.

Terms

reliefs (sculptures)

ProvenanceWith Sotheby's London, 21 May 1992, lot 85. Ex private collection, New York, acquired from Jerome Eisenberg (1930-2022) [Royal-Athena Galleries]], New York, New York, 1994. Purchased through partial exchange by MCCM from Sue McGovern-Huffman [Sands of Time Antiquities], Washington DC.

InscribedSharpening the knife

Status

Not on view

Collections