Fragment of a desert hunt - see 26.3.354-5-related

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scenes of hunting animals in the desert became a standard part of tomb decoration during the Old Kingdom (see, for example, 08.201.1g, from the Tomb of Raemkai). During the third and into the early second millennium B.C., the Egyptian deserts still had the character of a hilly savannah filled with hardy plants and populated by a multitude of wild animals such as gazelle, antelope, rabbits, hyenas, and the occasional lion or cheetah. Located at the fringes of the floodplain, and thus at the edges of the ordered world, the deserts became symbolic of the chaos that constantly threatened the Egyptian cosmos. By defeating the wild creatures of this liminal area, the king and his elite helped the gods to maintain order over chaos. Only fragments of decoration of Khety's desert hunt (see 26.3.354-5-related) remain, but they provide a glimpse into the lively animal representations seen in a few tombs dating to the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. Long after Khety's tomb was abandoned, the fine white limestone that lined the entrance corridor was broken up and re-purposed. This piece was partially formed, perhaps into a platter, but was discarded before it was completed.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art