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Ivory inlays and fragments of ostrich chicks
Nubian
Classic Kerma
about 1700–1550 B.C.
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Kerma, K1096
Medium/Technique
Ivory
Dimensions
Height x width x depth: 4.2 x 3.3 x 1 cm (1 5/8 x 1 5/16 x 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number20.1548a
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsFurniture
DescriptionThis group consists of the remains of five ivory inlays in the shape of ostrich chicks. Two are nearly complete, and the other three are fragmentary. Two large fragments are still embedded in mud. The bodies of the chicks have been decorated with circles bored into the surface. A similar technique has been used for the eye in the largely complete example on which the head has survived. Such inlays often adorned wooden fixtures such as funerary beds.
ProvenanceFrom Kerma, tomb K1096. March 1914: excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Sudan.
(Accession Date: March 1, 1920)
(Accession Date: March 1, 1920)