Palm of a Ceremonial Fan

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This palm (joining piece) of a ceremonial fan depicts a royal baldachin atop an umbel, the flower section of the papyrus plant. On the back of the palm are sockets for three ostrich plumes, and the lower end is made to fit onto a long staff. Goddesses holding feathered fans flank the pharaoh seated inside the baldachin. One of the royal cartouches appearing just below the cornice could be a poor version of one of the names of the Middle Kingdom pharaoh Amenemhat III. His pyramid complex at Hawara was a favorite site for burials in Roman times, and many mummies with panel portraits were found there. This fan might have been used in a temple at nearby Arsinöe, capital of the Fayum.

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