Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Relief with Female Musicians

ca. 1185–1070 B.C.E.

1 of 3

Object Label

This relief appears to show a standing female servant pouring a libation or perfume to the first of several squatting female musicians, one playing a tambourine and the others clapping out a beat. The main text, perhaps part of a hymn being sung, mentions a goddess as a "uraeus cobra of gold." On the basis of Its style, the relief can probably be attributed to a late Ramesside tomb at Saqqara.

Caption

Relief with Female Musicians, ca. 1185–1070 B.C.E.. Limestone, 12 1/8 × 22 1/16 × 2 9/16 in. (30.8 × 56 × 6.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund , 68.150.1. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Title

Relief with Female Musicians

Date

ca. 1185–1070 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 20 (probably)

Period

New Kingdom

Geography

Possible place collected: Saqqara, Egypt

Medium

Limestone

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

12 1/8 × 22 1/16 × 2 9/16 in. (30.8 × 56 × 6.5 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

68.150.1

Rights

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. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • What was the most popular hit during Dynasty 20?

    Perhaps "Stairway to the Afterlife." Whatever it was it features instruments like the drum in the center as well as a sistrum. Lots of percussion!
    Thats amazing. Thank you!!

  • What art in ancient Egypt are pertained to music?

    This first thing that comes to mind are depictions of musicians. Look for something called "Relief with Female Musicians" in the Later Egypt gallery.
    There is another relief called "Musicians" in the Amarna Period gallery.
    There are also fragmentary sistra (singular: sistrum) an ancient rattle-like instrument, in the Older Egypt gallery.

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