Miniature Bust
1 of 3
Object Label
Found in both houses and funerary chapels, busts such as this one were a focus for ancestor worship during the New Kingdom. Just as unhappy ghosts represented a threat to the living, one's relatives among the glorified dead who had been transformed into beings known as akhs could help with earthly problems and act as intermediaries to the powers on the "other side." Indeed, people even wrote messages to deceased relatives requesting aid in connection with a multitude of problems in their daily lives.
Caption
Miniature Bust, ca. 1336–1327 B.C.E., ca. 1327–1323 B.C.E., or ca. 1323–1295 B.C.E.. Wood, 3 1/16 x 2 1/16 in. (7.8 x 5.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 53.246. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Title
Miniature Bust
Date
ca. 1336–1327 B.C.E., ca. 1327–1323 B.C.E., or ca. 1323–1295 B.C.E.
Dynasty
late Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Possible place made: Thebes (Deir el-Medina), Egypt
Medium
Wood
Classification
Dimensions
3 1/16 x 2 1/16 in. (7.8 x 5.3 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
53.246
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at