Model of Nubian Archers
These wooden model of 40 Nubian archers are grouped together on the same pedestal and arranged in 10 rows of four. Each archer is holding in one hand a bow and in the other a bunch of arrows.
They are wearing red kilts with green designs and a flap of cloth in the center decorated with green geometrical designs. They wear black curly wigs, white headbands, anklets, and necklaces. The whites of their eyes give life to the black bodies. The archers are all shown barefoot, with their left legs stretched forward so that they appear to be marching in unison with long strides.
The artist varied the decorations on the shields to add interest and break up the monotony of the group, and also portrayed them with different facial features and heights to create liveliness.
Mesehti was an ancient Egyptian nomarch of the 13th nomos of Upper Egypt (“the Upper Sycamore”) around 2000 BCE, during the 11th Dynasty. He also was seal-bearer and overseer of the priests of Wepwawet. He is well known for his funerary equipment, found in Asyut at the end of 19th century during an illegal excavation.
They were found in the Tomb of Mesehti at Asyut around 2000 BC, during the 11th Dynasty. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 30969; CG 275
