Lady Wadjkaues

This relief fragment was found in Deir el-Bersha, Egypt and depicts Lady Wadjkaues, mother of Sep and wife of the nomarch, sat before an offering of food. She has an Egyptian blue lotus flower held to her nose.

Lady Wadjkaues is depicted in the typical style of her time with a slender physique, yellow skin, a wig of black hair, and a usekh collar of seemingly elaborate beading around her neck. Her dress is white, presumably made of the finest of Egyptian linens, and a strap is seen delicately adorning her shoulder. A woman seemingly of wealth, Lady Wadjkaues has bracelet cuffs on both of her wrists.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where this piece now resides, tells us that based upon appearence and style of this fragmentary relief, that it is likely that this fragment came from the tomb of Amenemhat, who was the Chief of the Fifteenth Upper Egyptian Hare Nome. This almost certainly explains Lady Wadjkaues’s title of “wife of the nomarch”, and if any doubt of this remains, Amenemhat was also the “father of Sep”.

Relief of Lady Wadjkaues
Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, reign of Senwosret I, c. 1971–1926 B.C.
From Deir el-Bersha, Tomb 3.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 1972.984