Whip handle of Nebiry

Whip handle of Nebiry

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This whip handle probably had leather thongs attached to the slot at the top. It is inscribed with the name and title of Nebiri, who was the skipper of a boat. The inscription also names Senenmut, a well known official in the joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. Among Senenmut's titles was "Overseer of Works" which probably included oversight the boats that transported supplies for various building projects. Traces of blue paint have been found in the hieroglyphs. As skipper of a boat, Nebiri may have used the whip to keep time for his crew of oarsmen, as seen in the detail of a wall painting shown above.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.