Sunk Relief of Queen Neferu
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About this Brooklyn Icon
The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.
These two limestone reliefs depict the ladies Inw and Henut, two hairdressers who are styling the locks of queen Neferu. Together these fragmented blocks form a dynamic and intimate image, showing the most powerful woman in Egypt in a humanizing personal moment.
Neferu was the principal wife of Montuhotep II, who unified Egypt at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. This hairdressing scene comes from her large and once highly decorated tomb at Deir el-Bahri, Thebes, where Montuhotep also built his mortuary temple. There are only a few surviving examples of these scenes of beautification, which depict elite and royal women of the early Middle Kingdom in moments of adornment. Here, it is possible that Neferu is being styled to perform for the goddess Hathor, who was associated with love, fertility, beauty, music, and the cult of Montuhotep.
Object Label
Caption
Sunk Relief of Queen Neferu, ca. 2008–1957 B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 7 1/2 x 9 5/16 x 3/4 in. (19 x 23.6 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 54.49. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Tags
Title
Sunk Relief of Queen Neferu
Date
ca. 2008–1957 B.C.E.
Dynasty
second part of Dynasty 11
Period
Middle Kingdom
Geography
Place made: Thebes (Deir el-Bahri), Egypt
Medium
Limestone, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
7 1/2 x 9 5/16 x 3/4 in. (19 x 23.6 x 1.9 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
54.49
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