Pharmaceutical jar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The incised inscription on this large jar identifies the contents of the vessel as "Special ointment of the Manager of the Red-Crown Enclaves and Chief Physician, Harkhebi." The man to whom the jar belonged probably lived in the Delta town of Buto; the "Red-Crown Enclaves" was an ancient area of that town, and his name, which means "Horus of Khemmis," refers to the site near Buto where the infant Horus was hidden by his mother, Isis, as described on the Metternich Stela (No. 51). Ointments are frequently cited in medical papyri as a component in prescriptions, and the contents of this jar may have been employed by Harkhebi for that purpose. It is also possible that the jar was made for the physician's tomb, but this is less likely, since Harkhebi's name lacks the epithet "justified," which was usually appended to the name of the deceased.

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