Artist's Sketches of Senenmut, Sketch of Small Rodent on Opposite Side

Artist's Sketches of Senenmut, Sketch of Small Rodent on Opposite Side

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ostraca are chips of limestone or fragments of pottery that were used as writing surfaces by ancient Egyptian scribes, or as sketch pads by artists. Despite the lack of any identifying text, the double profile on this ostracon can easily be identified as Senenmut, one of Hatshepsut's well-known courtiers. The profiles are similar to the representation of Senenmut on another ostracon in the Museum's collection (36.3.252) and to a drawing on a wall in his tomb (fig. 1). On the back of this ostracon is a sketch that depicts a small rodent.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Artist's Sketches of Senenmut, Sketch of Small Rodent on Opposite SideArtist's Sketches of Senenmut, Sketch of Small Rodent on Opposite SideArtist's Sketches of Senenmut, Sketch of Small Rodent on Opposite SideArtist's Sketches of Senenmut, Sketch of Small Rodent on Opposite SideArtist's Sketches of Senenmut, Sketch of Small Rodent on Opposite Side

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.