Ostracon Depicting a Queen Holding a Sistrum

Unknown

ca. 1295–1070 B.C. · Limestone, paint · Egyptian Art

A queen/queen mother, identifiable by the vulture cap with uraeus that she wears, shakes two arc sistra. The fully preserved example has a Hathor emblem below the arc. On the queen's head is a modius of uraei whose bodies are extremely elongated. She wears a fine transparent linen over-garment open at the front revealing her sensual figure. Her overlarge eye and the quick line of her profile give her face a lively air. New Kingdom queens and princesses played the sistrum in temple ceremonies, and may be found doing so in temple scenes at many sites. This ostracon was left in the Valley of the Kings by the workmen from Deir el Medina who executed the tombs in the Valley, but it is difficult to see its connection to the work in the Valley. The few royal women buried in the valley are not depicted shaking sistra. The workmen worked at many other sites, for instance, the Valley of Queens where queens do shake the sistrum, royal temples on the west bank, or the temple of their own village, so it is possible this piece was a drawing or study for another project.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1295–1070 B.C.

Medium

Limestone, paint

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Gift of Theodore M. Davis, 1909