Wooden Statuette of Neferetmau

The wooden statuette depicts a naked young girl named Neferetmau with her arms stretched out along her body. The head is mostly shaved, with the exception of the braids (some fall on the shoulders, others cover the forehead) that frame the face, and two loose strands of hair. She wears disc earrings and a golden usekh collar, as well as the shell belt that surrounds her hips.

On the base of the pedestal is engraved a hieroglyphic inscription consisting of four lines, while an additional line of hieroglyphs runs along the right side of the pedestal and contains the dedication of the statuette “From her mother Nebethetep, who brings her name to life”.

The Ancient Egyptians made statues using wood from local trees such as tamarisk, acacia and the sycamore fig. These contained many knots and irregular graining so they were used for small objects. For planks and blocks they imported conifer wood from Lebanon and Syria.

Although Egypt has no forests today, there were wooded areas in antiquity, and, despite a lack of larger strong timbers, there were active industries of carpentry including boat-making. There is no other ancient civilisation from which so many wooden artefacts have survived.

New Kingdom, 18th to 20th Dynasty, ca. 1539-1076 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum of Turin. Cat. 3107