AN EGYPTIAN POLYCHROME LIMESTONE RELIEF FRAGMENT

Finely carved in sunk relief and with original polychrome surviving, the fragment shows the head of a man in profile wearing a close-fitting cap. Part of his left shoulder is preserved, with strands of a broad collar visible. The style, large eyes with pronounced eyebrow and the thick-lipped mouth, is typical of the transitional period between the 25th and 26th dynasties. It is believed to be from the tomb of the high dignitary Pediamenopet at El-Assasif in Thebes (TT 33), the largest surviving private tomb from the Late Period. Pediamenopet was a Chief Lector Priest and scribe and was influential during the late 25th Dynasty and especially in the early 26th. He is known from at least three statues, including one of yellow quartzite in Cairo where he is depicted seated as a scribe with his legs folded, a scroll in his lap; one of alabaster, also in Cairo, seated on a backless chair; and one of granite in Berlin in a squatting pose. Another relief of him from the tomb, now in the Musées Royaux d'art et d'Histoire, Brussels, is nearly identical to this example, except he is shown facing left and preserves more of his torso, see Bulletin des Musées royaux des art décoratifs et industriels, September, 1908, pp. 77-78, fig. 9.