<em>Relief of Akhty-hotep</em>, ca. 2650-2600 B.C.E. Limestone, 36 1/8 x 23 11/16 in. (91.8 x 60.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 57.178. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 57.178_SL1.jpg)

Relief of Akhty-hotep, ca. 2650-2600 B.C.E. Limestone, 36 1/8 x 23 11/16 in. (91.8 x 60.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 57.178. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 57.178_SL1.jpg)

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Who is this?

The relief depicts Akhet-hotep, he's the owner of the nearby giant Sarcophagus. Akhet-Hotep was an important official and possibly the brother of the Pharaoh Khafre, he was buried near the great pyramid of Khufu.

The kilt Akhet-hotep wears is short, an indication of youthfulness and activity. He also wears a short wig appropriate for everyday life.

I want to know why this shows both his legs as left legs instead of as left and right legs. Does it refer to the Asian culture saying male is on the left and female is on the right?

That's a great catch. Often times in Egyptian art there is more emphasis on portraying the most characteristic view of a feature, sacrificing realism. In this case the foot is most characteristically portrayed and easily identified when rendered in this way with the toes facing inward. It makes the figure’s feet look more like the hieroglyph for “b” that is based on a foot.

You can see a break with this tradition in the relief of the "Sandaled Feet of Queen Nefertiti" in the Amarna gallery. She has two different feet and we get a rare glimpse of all five toes on the right foot.

Ok, thanks a lot!

Just read about Egyptian depictions of feet. It's a strange place to get hung up in terms of drawing, is there anything deeper there?

Not necessarily deeper, but it starts to make more sense when you consider all of the other "hang ups" in ancient Egyptian drawing.

The way that ancient Egyptians rendered people in two dimensions is often described as "isolation and reassemblage." They were more interested in showing a complete body than a realistic one. Notice the legs don't line up with torso which doesn't line up with the head. With feet in particular, the idea was the one side of the foot was more characteristic of a foot than the other, so they always showed that side.

Yeah the legs isolated make sense. Weird scene. Trying to imagine the mindset, a trip.

They certainly had different priorities!

What does this bird mean?

This bird and the symbols around it are all hieroglyphs spelling out this man's name, Akhty-hotep.

This bird sign is based on a crested ibis and it stands for the "akh" sound at the beginning of his name. Hieroglyphs can be written either from right to left or left to right. You always read towards the faces of the animal and people signs; here it is right to left.

Thank you so much!

You're welcome! You'll see hieroglyphs on most of the ancient Egyptian art in our collection. The written name was the most important way to identify a subject!

Relief of Akhty-hotep

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor

This sculpture in relief depicts Akhtyhotep, an Old Kingdom official, in a simple wrapped kilt and a short, curly wig. The tall walking stick and paddle-like baton indicate his official status. Akhty-hotep’s name appears in hieroglyphs in front of his face and also, partially preserved, above him to the left. It was believed that, in addition to tomb statues, images like this one could house the dead owner’s spirit. The high, bold carving typifies relief of the early Old Kingdom.

MEDIUM Limestone

Place Excavated: Saqqara, Egypt

DATES ca. 2650-2600 B.C.E.

DYNASTY late III Dynasty to early IV Dynasty

PERIOD Early Old Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 36 1/8 x 23 11/16 in. (91.8 x 60.2 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor

EXHIBITIONS

ACCESSION NUMBER 57.178

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

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.

CAPTION Relief of Akhty-hotep, ca. 2650-2600 B.C.E. Limestone, 36 1/8 x 23 11/16 in. (91.8 x 60.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 57.178. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 57.178_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 57.178_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"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.

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Limestone relief of the royal official Akhet-hotep. In high relief, Akhet-hotep, standing facing right, supporting plain staff in left hand, and sekhem-scepter in right. Curled wig, plain skirt. Above the representation, remains of three columns of titles in very bold hieroglyphs; name of owner in raised relief in front of face. Condition: Relief is assembled from separate blocks. These blocks have been cut to maximum thickness of about 4.2 cm. Sections lost from left edge (center and base) and from lower right edges. Cracked in various sections with minor breaks along cracks. Remains of green paint around eye. Lips chipped. Relief is in fragile condition and crossed with cracks. As both long sides of the relief show traces of walls at right angles to the main face of this relief, it must have come from the left side, or inlet, of a false door or similar in the tomb.

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.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Who is this?

The kilt Akhet-hotep wears is short, an indication of youthfulness and activity. He also wears a short wig appropriate for everyday life.

I want to know why this shows both his legs as left legs instead of as left and right legs. Does it refer to the Asian culture saying male is on the left and female is on the right?

Ok, thanks a lot!

Just read about Egyptian depictions of feet. It's a strange place to get hung up in terms of drawing, is there anything deeper there?

Not necessarily deeper, but it starts to make more sense when you consider all of the other "hang ups" in ancient Egyptian drawing.

Yeah the legs isolated make sense. Weird scene. Trying to imagine the mindset, a trip.

They certainly had different priorities!

What does this bird mean?

This bird and the symbols around it are all hieroglyphs spelling out this man's name, Akhty-hotep.

Thank you so much!

You're welcome! You'll see hieroglyphs on most of the ancient Egyptian art in our collection. The written name was the most important way to identify a subject!

Collection Menu

Relief of Akhty-hotep

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor

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Collection Menu

Relief of Akhty-hotep

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor

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