Skip Navigation

Royal Offering Bearer

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
When complete, the scene to which these two fragments belonged showed a long procession of female offering bearers. One figure carries a tall basket and the other brings a tray. In each case the contents are obscured by a cloth, but similar scenes indicate that these gifts were offerings of food. The Egyptians believed that food and drink were required to ensure the deceased’s continued existence in the afterlife.
CULTURE Egyptian
MEDIUM Limestone, pigment
DATES ca. 2008-1957 B.C.E.
DYNASTY second part of Dynasty 11
PERIOD Middle Kingdom
DIMENSIONS 9 1/16 x 12 1/2 in. (23 x 31.7 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 53.178
CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Fragment of painted limestone relief. In sunk relief, a woman, preserved head to waist, bearing on her right shoulder a large tray, with single, unidentified object possibly a sack, which she supports with both hands. Long lappet wig painted black. White dress commencing under breasts. Eye painted white and black. Condition: Edge chipped. Paint worn.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
CAPTION Egyptian. Royal Offering Bearer, ca. 2008-1957 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 9 1/16 x 12 1/2 in. (23 x 31.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 53.178. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.53.178_erg2.jpg)
IMAGE overall, CUR.53.178_erg2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 11/26/2007
"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.