Model of ancient Egyptian soldiers
Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, ca. 2000 BC. From tomb of Mesehti, Asyut. Now in the Grand Egyptian Museum. JE 30986
Relief of a dog-like animal (possibly a fox) attacking a bird's nest. This motif is better known from Old Kingdom tombs.
Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, ca. 2060-2009 BC. From the Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep II, Deir el-Bahari, Thebes. Now in the Fitzwilliam Museum. E.5.1906
"The Bersha Procession", one of 100 wooden models from the tomb of Djehutynakht. This model shows the funerary procession, with offerings of tribute for the deceased. Three women with offerings of food and drink are led by a Priest carrying a wine jug and incense burner. Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, c. 2010–1961 B.C. Deir el-Bersha, Tomb 10, pit A. Tomb of Djehutynakht Now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. 21.326
Model of Nubian Archers
Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, around 2000 BC. From the Tomb of Mesehti in Asyut. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 30969
Model of Egyptian soldiers
Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, around 2000 BC. From the tomb of Mesehti in Asyut. Now in the Grand Egyptian Museum. JE 30986
Relief on the sarcophagus of Kawit, queen consort of king Mentuhotep II, one of the most noteworthy in terms of the low-relief sculpture in the Theban court, from her tomb (DBXI.9), Deir el-Bahari, Thebes.
Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, ca. 2061-2010 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 47397
Statuette of a Hippo
Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, ca. 2134-1991 BC. Made of Egyptian faience. Height 11.5 cm, length 21.5 cm. Excavated by Auguste Mariette (1860). Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 21365
This faience hippo statuette was found in Dra’ Abu el-Naga’ in western Thebes. The glossy blue glaze is the color of the Nile, where the animal lived, and the decoration shows various representations of fauna and flora that grew by the river.
The flowers, papyrus plants, and perching birds are depicted in black, linear forms. Such animal figurines were popular in tombs of the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period. The hippopotamus was associated with the fertility of the Nile mud or silt.
The Beni Hasan boat
Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, c. 1990 BC. Now in the Hull Museums and Galleries. KINCM:1989.6 HERM
This Ancient Egyptian model boat is almost 4000 years old! It comes from an 11th Dynasty in the Middle Kingdom shaft tomb at Beni Hasan in central Egypt. The tomb belonged to an official called Ja’Y or Tjay – described on his coffin as a Steward or “Controller of the Household”.
The wooden boat is around 88 cm long. It features eight oarsmen (now missing their oars) and a helmsman facing them with a steering oar. Images of the model in the tomb show that originally there was a standing figure at the prow – in the position now taken by one of the seated oarsmen.
Model of ancient Egyptian soldiers
Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, around 2000 BC. From the tomb of Mesehti in Asyut. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 30986
Relief from the Tomb of Kemsit
Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty, ca. 2055-2004 BC. Painted limestone. Now in the British Museum. EA1450
Kemsit sits on a wide, low-backed chair holding a vase of scented ointment to her nose. In front of her was the smaller figure of a male servant, of which only his hand remains, holding a small cup that is receiving the stream of liquid he was pouring into it with his other hand.
This servant was obviously facing leftward, and since the inscription in front of him has its signs also facing left, we can be sure that the inscription belongs to the servant. Kemsit has short, curly hair. Her necklace is a broad collar with many strands and an outer row of drop-shaped pendants, and she wears cuff-shaped bracelets made of many strands of tiny beads held in place by a spacer bead.