OLD KINGDOM, DYNASTY VI, CIRCA 2300-2181 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE RELIEF FRAGMENT
OLD KINGDOM, DYNASTY VI, CIRCA 2300-2181 B.C.
With three columns of hieroglyphs describing the titles of the deceased, carved in raised relief, reading from right to left: 'Sole friend of the King and Seal bearer of the god in the Two great Fleets, [?] overseer of oarsmen and foreman of recruits, [?] the king beloved of all foreign lands', and eleven columns of sunken relief hieroglyphic inscriptions listing all the offerings made to the deceased in the afterlife, consisting of a variety of bread, beer, meat, poultry and fruits
25 1/8 x 13 in. (64 x 33.3 cm.)

Provenance

with Nicholas Koutoulakis, Switzerland, early 1970s.
Private collection, Switzerland, prior to the 1970s.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

Sale room notice

Several other fragments are known from this tomb which give the name of of the owner as Iny, in museums in Madrid and Tokyo. These fragments have been published and a more complete report is available if you contact the Antiquities Dept.

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Lot Essay

The deceased was a functionary entitled the god's Seal Bearer of the Two Great Fleets (i.e. admiral) of an expedition to mines and quarries. Expeditions to the remote mining areas in the desert, where many inscriptions were found, were dependent on the king's ability to provide the necessary workforce. Throughout the Pharaonic Period, the procurement of stone and metals was an integral part of the social and economic relationship between the king and his high officials, as well as between the high officials and their subordinates. However, from Dynasty VI onwards, the inscriptions provided more of the names and titles of the actual leaders and members of the expedition rather than of the king himself.

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