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Building Scene

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

These two adjoining blocks depict stonemasons and laborers constructing one of Amunhotep IV's shrines to the Aten at Karnak. At the lower left is a figure carrying either a bag or a sandstone block, called a talatat, to the construction site. Above him, three other workmen walk on a wooden beam separating the unfinished walls. The group of men in the lower right may be listening to instructions from an unseen overseer.

MEDIUM Limestone, pigment
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS
DATES ca. 1352–1347 B.C.E.
DYNASTY late Dynasty 18
PERIOD New Kingdom, Amarna Period
DIMENSIONS 8 3/8 x 10 5/8 x 1 7/16 in. (21.2 x 27 x 3.6 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 61.195.1
CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented, probably from Tell el-Amarna, Egypt; probably reused inside the pylon of Ramsses II at Hermopolis Magna, Egypt; by 1961, acquired by Renee Raymond Dreyfus of Geneva, Switzerland; December 13, 1961, purchased from Renee Raymond Dreyfus by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Fragment of limestone relief with remains of two registers. On upper register in raised relief, legs of two men (soldiers?) running to right. Lower register also in raised relief. Man with bag on shoulders in a doorway; probably the first in a row of bearers, some of which in a row on another block in the same group of reliefs. Joins Brooklyn 86.132. Condition: Very incomplete. Upper register badly eroded. Scattered remains of original red paint on all bodies, particularly orange-red on face of man.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
CAPTION Building Scene, ca. 1352–1347 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 8 3/8 x 10 5/8 x 1 7/16 in. (21.2 x 27 x 3.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 61.195.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.195.1_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 61.195.1_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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