Many busts of this type have been discovered at the site of Deir el Medineh, the village across the river from Thebes that was the home of the craftsmen who dug and decorated the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. These figures seem to have stood in niches in private houses in Deir el Medineh. They may have functioned as representations of living individuals or as depictions of the collective spirits of entire families.
Catalogue Description:
Wooden bust of a man, "ancestral bust" type. Amarna-type with slanting eyes, prominent ears with pierced lobes. Close-fitting cap. Body entirely conventionalized with no details indicated.
