Relief of the Chief Physician Amenhotep
Dynasty: Dynasty 19 (Ancient Egyptian, 1295–1186 BCE)
Date: about 1280 BCE
Dimensions:
43 1/2 x 30 3/4 in. (110.5 x 78.1 cm)
Medium: limestone with paint
Place of Origin: Egypt, from the tomb of Amunhotep, Deir Derunka, Asyut
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1962.24
Label Text:Amenhotep, probably scribe and chief physician to Pharaoh Rameses II (ruled 1290–1224 BCE), is shown seated on a costly, lion-footed chair, His wife Rennut kneels on a mat beside him. Both wear elaborate wigs and robes of sheer, finely pleated linen, fashionable in this era. She inhales the scent of a blue lotus, a symbol of the daily rebirth of the sun. Amen-hotep accepts offerings of bread (stacked vertically on the table) and prayers from a mortuary priest, identified by his ritual cheetah skin and braided lock of hair. The figures are delicately carved in raised relief and show traces of their original paint.
Cut in sunken relief, the hieroglyphs piously recognize the power of the Ennead (the nine firstborn gods of Egypt) and the importance of sustenance—“wine, milk and every good and pure thing”—to both gods and human beings.
Cut in sunken relief, the hieroglyphs piously recognize the power of the Ennead (the nine firstborn gods of Egypt) and the importance of sustenance—“wine, milk and every good and pure thing”—to both gods and human beings.
On view
In Collection(s)