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Relief of Lady Wadjkaues
Egyptian
Middle Kingdom, Dynasty, 12, reign of Senwosret I
1971–1926 B.C.
Findspot: Egypt, Deir el-Bersha, Tomb 3
Medium/Technique
Painted limestone
Dimensions
Width x height x depth: 59 x 37 x 4.5 cm (23 1/4 x 14 9/16 x 1 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Seth K. Sweetser Fund
Accession Number1972.984
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements – Relief
DescriptionThe woman featured in the relief is Wadjkaues, the wife of the nomarch and mother of Sep. Seated on a chair before a table piled high with bread, Wadjkaues holds in her left hand a blue lotus flower. She wears a long wig, a simple sheath dress with straps, a broad collar, and paired bracelets. The relief is rendered in a manner characteristic of early second millennium tombs from Deir el-Bersha in that the hieroglyphs are sharply delineated, the figure slim-waisted, and the limbs long and slender.
The style and text on this sunk relief fragment suggest that it comes from the tomb of Amenemhat, chief of the fifteenth Upper Egyptian Hare Nome, located across the Nile from the Middle Kingdom tombs at Deir el-Bersha. Amenemhat is also identified as the father of Sep, scribe of the royal monuments.
The style and text on this sunk relief fragment suggest that it comes from the tomb of Amenemhat, chief of the fifteenth Upper Egyptian Hare Nome, located across the Nile from the Middle Kingdom tombs at Deir el-Bersha. Amenemhat is also identified as the father of Sep, scribe of the royal monuments.
ProvenanceFrom Deir el-Bersha, tomb 3. By mid-19th century: Paris private collection (W.K. Simpson, "The Middle Kingdom in Egypt: Some Recent Acquisitions," Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 72 [1974] 110); by 1972, with Jean-Louis Domercq, Paris; purchased by the MFA from Jean-Louis Domercq December 13, 1972.
(Accession Date: December 13, 1972)
(Accession Date: December 13, 1972)