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Relief Representation of Goatherd with Goat and Trees

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
These three blocks originally were part of a large pastoral scene depicting the countryside surrounding a temple. A guard snoozes on the job at the temple entrance on the lower left, while a goatherd watches his goat as it grazes on the right. Trees and the line of the temple wall carry over to the upper block, where along another ground line, there is the face of a grazing calf and the legs of a man dancing. Pastoral scenes were invented by Amarna period artists. Scenes like this one were the source for later pastoral scenes in Egyptian art.
MEDIUM Limestone
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS
DATES ca. 1350-1333 B.C.E.
DYNASTY late Dynasty 18
PERIOD New Kingdom, Amarna Period
DIMENSIONS 8 1/4 x 16 3/4 x 2 1/2 in., 22.5 lb. (21 x 42.5 x 6.4 cm, 10.21kg)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 86.226.30
CREDIT LINE Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.
PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented, probably from Tell el-Amarna, Egypt; probably reused inside the pylon of Ramsses II at Hermopolis Magna, Egypt; before February 25, 1971, acquired by Galerie Maspero, Paris, France; by February 25, 1971, purchased from Galerie Maspero by Ernest Erickson; March 5, 1971, loaned by Ernest Erickson to the Brooklyn Museum; 1986, gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc. to the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Limestone slab decorated with a sunk relief representation of a bearded man (goatherd), a goat and two trees. The relief may once have decorated the end of a wall because there is a projection surface at the right end of the slab. Condition: Man's lower legs, lowest part of three of the goat's feet, the goat's nose and the tops of the trees are not preserved. Front of man's face damaged. Large chip in field.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
CAPTION Relief Representation of Goatherd with Goat and Trees, ca. 1350-1333 B.C.E. Limestone, 8 1/4 x 16 3/4 x 2 1/2 in., 22.5 lb. (21 x 42.5 x 6.4 cm, 10.21kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc., 86.226.30. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2022.17_2019.13_L2019.5_86.226.30_view01_PS20.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 2022.17_2019.13_L2019.5_86.226.30_view01_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2022
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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