Grave relief with women bringing gifts
| Grave relief with women bringing gifts | |
|---|---|
| material | limestone |
| Dimensions | H. 43 cm; W. 62.5 cm; |
| origin | Saqqara |
| time | New kingdom |
| place | Hildesheim , Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum , PM 11 |
The Egyptian collection of the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim includes a grave relief with women bringing gifts from the New Kingdom , the late 18th Dynasty around 1320 BC. Since the Old Kingdom, the representation of men and women bringing gifts has been part of the classic repertoire of images in the grave relief, as relatives of the dead, as sacrificial priests or as anthropomorphically depicted estates.
Location and size
After the Amarna period , at the end of the 18th dynasty, the seat of government under Tutankhamun was moved from Tell el-Amarna back to Memphis . In the associated necropolis of Saqqara , numerous graves of high officials were created. The style and execution of the relief suggest that it probably comes from one of these grave complexes. It belonged to the collection of Wilhelm Pelizaeus in Cairo before 1907 and was acquired by him in the Egyptian art trade, although there is no documented year of acquisition. It was part of the donation to his hometown Hildesheim in 1907, where the relief was transferred in 1909. The rectangular limestone block is 43 cm high and 62.5 cm wide.
description
The women depicted on the relief offer offerings for the sacrifice of the grave lord. Four women walking to the left are completely preserved, a fifth can still be recognized by a remnant of her back and a tip of a robe. The rich equipment of the women signals that they are not servants, but women of the upper class, who may have been related to the grave master. In their raised right hand, two of them carry a small tray with two pointed breads, the other two hold up a bouquet of lotus blossoms . The left hands hold or make other offerings. Viewed from left to right, these are a goose that is being grabbed by the wings, a large bundle of fruit, an ibex and a calf adorned with a collar. The finely curled wigs, hanging far over the shoulders, are combined with a forehead ornament and a lotus bud each. The women's robes consist of a tight-fitting dress that goes down to the ankles. Over it they wear a pleated outer garment that is knotted under the chest. The lush body shapes are additionally emphasized by this clothing. Belly button and belly folds in the style of the Nachamarna period are clearly visible. Her facial features with the large, almond-shaped, slightly slanted eyes, rounded cheeks, soft chin lines and lush mouth are characteristic of the art of the Nachamarna period. To the right, the scene is closed by a vertical edge strip. The underground of the detailed relief was evenly worked off and smoothed.
State of preservation
The block is bumped on all edges and corners, larger pieces of the stone are chipped at the top and bottom right. A part of the image is missing on the left, the break runs through the rear part of the fifth female figure.
literature
- Katja Lembke , Bettina Schmitz u. a .: Beauty in ancient Egypt. Longing for Perfection, Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim, November 25, 2006 to July 1, 2007; Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, July 28, 2007 to January 27, 2008. Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 2006, ISBN 978-3-8067-8559-3 , pp. 230-231.
- Wilfried Seipel : Egypt. Gods, graves and art. 4000 years of belief in the hereafter. Volume 1 (= catalogs of the Upper Austrian State Museum. New series no. 22). Landesmuseum, Linz 1989, ISBN 978-3-900746-14-8 , p. 263.
- Wilfried Seipel: Pictures for eternity. 3000 years of Egyptian art. Heidelberg Castle, June 2 to August 28, 1983. Stadler, Konstanz 1983, ISBN 978-3-7977-0105-3 , p. 146.
- Arne Eggebrecht : Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim; The Egyptian Collection (= Zabern's illustrated books on archeology. Vol. 12). von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1569-4 , p. 66.
- Albert Ippel , Günther Roeder : The monuments of the Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim. Curtius, Berlin 1921, p. 87.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum Hildeshein; Inventory number PM 11