This group model of ancient Egyptian soldiers was found in the tomb of Mesehti, a local governor of Asyut at the end of the First Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. The group consists of forty soldiers arranged in ten lines. They are colored reddish brown, their strong tan indicating their continuous...
This wooden model depicts a man squatting on the floor and cooking a thigh of a duck he holds in his left hand, while on the other hand he holds a fan to spark the fire, painted in front of him on the base. These models were placed in the tombs to provide the dead...
A middle kingdom wooden model of a sailing boat with the pilot in the bow and the owner resting under a canopy. Boats were the commonest type of funerary models placed in tombs during the Middle Kingdom. They provided the dead person with the magical means of traveling along the waterways of the Underworld. All...
An early example from Predynastic Egypt, is a ceramic model of a boat with a man in a fetal position, sailing to the afterlife where he will be reborn. Belief in a physical afterlife endured for thousands of years. This totemic item from predynastic Egypt shows the deceased curled up in the fetal position in...
This large model shows a courtyard where the inspection of cattle took place. Meketre, his son, and four scribes sit under a columned canopy with scribes and guards standing nearby. Cattle are driven before them by several farmers and herdsmen in order to be counted for inspection purposes. All men are wearing short kilts and...
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...
This fishing model was found in the serdab of Meketre’s tomb which contained twenty-five wooden models of men and women performing various daily tasks typical of life along the Nile. One vivid and animated scene shows fishermen on board two green-hulled boats used on the river in ancient times; the boats are made from strips...
Many examples of this stool have been found, two in the tomb of Tutankhamun with fragments of leather seats still adhering to their upper crossbars. Though this object looks like a folding stool, its elements are fixed. Actual portable furniture saw use during hunts and military campaigns. The seat has painted and inlaid decoration to...
This model from Meketre’s funerary furniture shows some carpenters in their carpentry workshop. They are busy with woodworking of various kinds. One carpenter in the middle is sawing a piece of wood while other workmen are working around the sides holding hoes. A carpenter sits in the middle of the scene and uses a mallet...
