Mar 1, 2024
Figure of a Woman of Nubian Descent - Met Museum Collection
Inventory Number: 26.3.231 Middle Kingdom–Early New Kingdom, Dynasty 11, ca. 2030–1981 B.C. Location Information: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Tomb MMA 511, MMA excavations, 1921–23
Description:
This dark-skinned young woman wears a brightly patterned skirt, a necklace, anklets, and a fillet around her head. She probably represents an attendant of one of the Hathor priestesses and royal wives at the court of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II. Remains of two similar figures were also found, and the three may have originally stood on a common base symbolically clapping their hands at a festival or the funeral of a higher-status woman.
