Skip Navigation

Raised Relief of a Priest

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

This relief is attributed to Saqqara, one of the cemeteries of the Lower, or northern, Egyptian capital city of Memphis, because it represents a Memphite priest and its texts mention Memphite deities. It is carved with less severe outlines and facial features and in less compact limestone than contemporary reliefs made at Thebes. The style recalls New Kingdom Memphite reliefs.

MEDIUM Limestone
  • Place Made: Saqqara, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 664-610 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY early Dynasty 26
    PERIOD Late Period
    DIMENSIONS 11 5/16 x 14 3/4 in. (28.8 x 37.5 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 61.165
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Limestone relief. In high relief standing figure of the sem priest Ptah, preserved to about shoulders, facing right with right arm and hand outstretched apparently making an offering to his mother. He wears side-lock with curled wig. Line of fine hieroglyphs at top edge and one column behind the priest. Condition: Poor. Most of surface near upper edge lost and scattered areas all over relief have been attacked by salt (?) and lost. Remains of red paint on flesh of man, edges of hieroglyphs and scattered points.
    CAPTION Raised Relief of a Priest, ca. 664-610 B.C.E. Limestone, 11 5/16 x 14 3/4 in. (28.8 x 37.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.165. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.61.165_wwg8.jpg)
    IMAGE installation, West Wing gallery 8 installation, CUR.61.165_wwg8.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.