Fragments from stela of the Chief Steward Henenu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These two limestone relief fragments, now joined, derive from one of the several rectangular stelae that were originally inserted into the interior walls of the owner’s tomb cut into the rocky cliff at Deir el-Bahri. The inscriptions from another stela identify the official, Henenu, as the chief steward who served King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II. The preserved portion of this stela shows the head and upper torso of Henenu, wearing bracelets and an ornate broad collar made of cylindrical and drop-shaped beads. He delicately holds a beaker up to his nose, perhaps to sniff the perfume inside it. His other hand reaches toward the sumptuous amount of offerings that would have been depicted in front of him. Of the offerings, only one ointment vase and the tail of a duck remain today.

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