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Mourners Before a Tomb Door

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
This relief fragment shows two men, on the right, who make the gestures of mourners. The small cuts in the stone surface above and in front of the figures represent the dust that mourning Egyptians poured on their heads as a sign of bereavement. To the left can be seen the traces of a man in official dress who appears to be hurrying from the opened door of the tomb. Unlike many of the objects in this gallery, the scene suggests distress in the presence of death.
MEDIUM Limestone
  • Place Made: Saqqara, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1352-1332 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY late Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom, Amarna Period
    DIMENSIONS 9 9/16 x 14 3/16 x 7/8 in. (24.3 x 36 x 2.3 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 69.114
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CAPTION Mourners Before a Tomb Door, ca. 1352-1332 B.C.E. Limestone, 9 9/16 x 14 3/16 x 7/8 in. (24.3 x 36 x 2.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 69.114. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.69.114_wwgA-2.jpg)
    IMAGE installation, West Wing gallery A-2 installation, CUR.69.114_wwgA-2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2005
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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