Relief depicting rituals and sacred emblems ca. 2051–2030 Middle Kingdom Neferu was most likely the first queen of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II, and may also have been his sister. Her plundered tomb, excavated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art between 1923 and 1931, lay outside the king's temple precinct at Deir el Bahri. It was visited as a shrine in the Eighteenth Dynasty, and at some point it was used as a quarry for the fine limestone covering the decoration of the funerary apartments consisted almost exclusively of ritual scenes and depictions of sacred objects deriving from lo
Relief depicting rituals and sacred emblems ca. 2051–2030 Middle Kingdom Neferu was most likely the first queen of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II, and may also have been his sister. Her plundered tomb, excavated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art between 1923 and 1931, lay outside the king's temple precinct at Deir el Bahri. It was visited as a shrine in the Eighteenth Dynasty, and at some point it was used as a quarry for the fine limestone covering the decoration of the funerary apartments consisted almost exclusively of ritual scenes and depictions of sacred objects deriving from local Upper Egyptian iconography. The carving of Neferu’s surviving reliefs has a captivating otherworldliness, although it is varied in quality. The extenuated proportions of the figures, and the elaborate patterns contrasting with smooth planes, represent the height of the Eleventh Dynasty archaic style. The background was left unpainted, while the figures were either detailed or covered with orange, pink, purple, blue, green, white or black paint. This goal of the scenes illustrated in this group of fragments was to provide a liturgical listing of items that were essential in the proper procedure of funeral rites, rather than to depict actual ritual performances. This accounts for the striking lack of proportion between objects and human figures in these scenesThe following stages in the funeral rites are alluded to by the presence of sacred objects:1. The body of the deceased is the top register on the left, four tiny men carry a rectangular object that looks like a canopy but is actually a bracelet (or anklet) that is to be put on the Entry into the to the right of the bracelet carriers, a kneeling man lifts up a funerary boat. Boats were thought to be the means by which the deceased entered the realm of the The deceased is endowed with supernatural the middle register, two kneeling men present scepters, possi
Size: 4000px × 3299px
Photo credit: © MET/BOT / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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