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Harvest Ritual(?)

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

The scene of an individual—by his or her size, surely royal—grasping stalks of grain has no parallel at el Amarna. It may represent a harvest ritual honoring the ancient fertility god Min. A festival for any god but the Aten at el Amarna could only have been celebrated after Akhenaten's death, during the two years before Tutankhaten returned Egypt's capital to Thebes. It may even depict a rite carried out at Tutankhaten's coronation.

MEDIUM Limestone, pigment
DATES ca. 1352–1334 B.C.E.
DYNASTY late Dynasty 18
PERIOD New Kingdom, Amarna Period
DIMENSIONS 9 3/16 x 20 1/2 in. (23.4 x 52 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 60.197.2
CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Limestone relief. In sunk relief, incompletely preserved head and shoulders of a male figure with outstretched right hand clasping (? picking) unidentified plant, possibly wheat, for offering (?). Trace of another hand in lower left corner. Man is in unusually large scale and presumably is royal. Condition: Both lower corners lost with piece replaced at lower left corner. Deep gash on hand.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Harvest Ritual(?), ca. 1352–1334 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 9 3/16 x 20 1/2 in. (23.4 x 52 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 60.197.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.60.197.2_wwg7.jpg)
IMAGE installation, West Wing gallery 7 installation, CUR.60.197.2_wwg7.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2005
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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