Relief of an Acacia Tree Shading Water Jars with Drinking Cups

Unknown

ca. 2051–2030 B.C. · Limestone, paint · Egyptian Art

In this picturesque image of water jars beneath an acacia tree, each jar for ready use topped by a drinking cup, there may be hidden allusions to beliefs about the afterlife. In the Old Kingdom, an institution called “the acacia house” was maintained at the solar cult site of Heliopolis (near present day Cairo). To this institution belonged a group of women who served as mourners and ritual dancers at each pharaoh’s funeral. Queen Neferu may have been a member of Mentuhotep II’s acacia house. For other reliefs of Neferu, see 26.3.353* and 31.3.1.

Artist: Unknown
Date: ca. 2051–2030 B.C.
Medium: Limestone, paint
Department: Egyptian Art
Credit line: Rogers Fund, 1926

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