Female figurine

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This female figurine of imported ebony was found in the tomb of an archer named Neferhotep, along with two block statues, a quiver full of arrows, a fan handle of gilded wood, a club, and a shell. This type of figurine was an innovation of the Middle Kingdom; other examples wear jewelry and can be tattoed. Once interpreted as "concubines for the dead," they are now thought perhaps to be representations of sacred dancers involved in the cult of the goddess Hathor. A second such figurine was also found in the tomb; made of turqoise-colored faience, this second example has long hair, jewelry, and tattoos, all indicated with black paint.

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