Relief of Peasants Driving Cattle and Fishing, between 2345 and 2181 BCE

  • Egyptian

Carved and painted limestone

  • Overall: 18 1/2 × 59 × 2 inches (47 × 149.9 × 5.1 cm) Overall (left section): 18 1/2 × 27 × 2 inches (47 × 68.6 × 5.1 cm) Overall (right section): 18 × 32 × 2 inches (45.7 × 81.3 × 5.1 cm)

City of Detroit Purchase

30.371

On View

  • Egyptian, Level 1, West

Department

African Art

Cattle cross a canal, fishermen haul in their nets, and, in other reliefs, geese and ducks are piled up in front of an image of the deceased. These depictions are typical of the magical representations placed in the tomb to insure the quality of the next life. These detailed depictions tell us much about the dally life of ancient Egypt and provide us with information that makes the ancient Egyptians come alive today.

(Khawan and Brothers)

1930-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Richardson, E. P. "An Egyptian Old Kingdom Relief," in Bulletin of the DIA 12, no. 4 (January 1931): p. 34-36; (ill.) (also front cover). Porter-Moss III. p. 695. James, T.G.H. Howard Carter: the Path to Tutankhamun. London, 1982, p. 373. Peck, William H. "A Cross Section of Ancient Art," Apollo, vol. CXXIV, no. 298 (December 1986): p. 12, 14 (ill.). Henshaw, Julia P., ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 106 (ill.). Leahy, Anthony and Ian Mathieson. "The Tomb of Nyankhnesut (Re)discovered," The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 87 (2001): pp. 33-42. Peck, William H. “Archaeology and the Detroit Institute of Arts,” Bulletin of the DIA 79, no. 1/2 (2005): 8, (fig. 4).

Egyptian, Relief of Peasants Driving Cattle and Fishing, between 2345 and 2181 BCE, carved and painted limestone. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 30.371.