Relief with Desert Scene

ca. 2472–2455 B.C.E.

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Object Label

This fragment—originally part of a large hunting scene—shows desert animals breeding in their wild habitat. To the right, a wild feline noses after his mate. At lower left, a male antelope, mounting his mate, rears his head into the row above. The four female legs and two male hind legs of two other antelopes are visible at the upper left. At the lower right, the hindquarters of an antelope giving birth and the emerging head of her calf are partly preserved. The bovine calf at center left completes this depiction of the cycle of life, which, by being represented in the tomb, achieved eternal significance.

Caption

Relief with Desert Scene, ca. 2472–2455 B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 11 7/16 x 17 1/16 x 1 3/16 in. (29 x 43.3 x 3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 64.147. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Title

Relief with Desert Scene

Date

ca. 2472–2455 B.C.E.

Dynasty

middle Dynasty 5

Period

Old Kingdom

Geography

Place excavated: Saqqara, Egypt

Medium

Limestone, pigment

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

11 7/16 x 17 1/16 x 1 3/16 in. (29 x 43.3 x 3 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

64.147

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