Model Jar Inscribed for Sennefer and Senetnay

Model Jar Inscribed for Sennefer and Senetnay

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This jar is made of solid stone, with only a small depression at the top. It was never intended to be functional, but was a model used as part of the owner's burial equipment. The shape imitates a ceremonial hes-vase that would have been used for pouring libations. The inscription names the Mayor of Thebes Sennefer and his wife, the Royal Nurse Senetnay. Senetnay was the wet-nurse of Amenhotep II and another title "one who nurtured the body of the god" indicates that she lived into the king's reign. Because of her close relationship with the king, Senetnay was given the privilege of burial in the royal cemetery now known as the Valley of the Kings. Several dozen model jars inscribed with her name (and sometimes with that of her husband as well) were discovered in and around the entrance of KV 42. Four of these, including this one, a small jug, and two pear-shaped jars are now on view in gallery 117. For more information on the jars and KV 42, see the Curatorial Interpretation below.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Model Jar Inscribed for Sennefer and SenetnayModel Jar Inscribed for Sennefer and SenetnayModel Jar Inscribed for Sennefer and SenetnayModel Jar Inscribed for Sennefer and SenetnayModel Jar Inscribed for Sennefer and Senetnay

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.