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Relief Fragment Depicting Meret-Teti-iyet with Offerings

A work made of limestone and pigment.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of limestone and pigment.

Date:

First Intermediate Period, Dynasty 10, about 2025 BCE

Artist:

Egyptian; offering niche of Meret-Teti-iyet, Teti Pyramid Cemetery, Saqqara, Egypt

About this artwork

This pair of panels (along with 1910.224) was part of a painted offering niche designed for a woman named Meret-Teti-iyet. The fragmentary upper scenes depict people bringing offerings to sustain her in the afterlife. Meret-Teti-iyet sits behind piles of food at the bottom of each panel, facing approaching visitors. On this panel, she holds a closed lotus blossom on her lap; on the other one, she sniffs an open lotus flower. The lotus, which opens with the rising sun and sinks beneath the water at night, was a symbol of renewal and rebirth in ancient Egypt.

Status

On View, Gallery 50

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Ancient Egyptian

Title

Relief Fragment Depicting Meret-Teti-iyet with Offerings

Place

Saqqara (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

2060 BCE–2025 BCE

Medium

Limestone and pigment

Inscriptions

Inscriptions across panel: "The Beloved Lady of (King) Teti Comes"; the revered in the presence of Anubis, him who is upon his mountain, the embalmer, Merettetiyiyet."; " 1000 loaves of bread, 1000 jars of beer, 1000 oxen, 1000 geese, for the revered one, Merettetiyiyet"; "lassoing an ox".

Dimensions

73.4 × 57 × 12 cm (28 7/8 × 22 7/16 × 4 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

W. Moses Willner Fund

Reference Number

1910.223

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/120365/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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