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Tomb Wall Fragment Depicting Abdu and Reputka with Offering Bearers

A work made of limestone.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of limestone.

Date:

Old Kingdom, Dynasty 6 (about 2345–2181 BCE)

Artist:

Egyptian; Tomb of Abdu, Giza, Egypt

About this artwork

Leaning on a tall staff that marks his high social status, Abdu stands beside his wife, Reputka. Such portraits, showing the deceased with idealized rather than individualized faces and bodies, were commonly used in the tomb chapels of upper-class Egyptians. The artisans who decorated these chambers worked from a canon of scenes and poses depicting daily life, family, and religious imagery. Fashions changed over time, but some scenes—such as the image of a wife embracing her husband with one arm, used here and in the fragmentary statue at right—were standard for thousands of years. Names and titles written in hieroglyphs around Abdu’s and Reputka’s heads personalize the images of the eternally youthful couple.

Status

On View, Gallery 50

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Ancient Egyptian

Title

Tomb Wall Fragment Depicting Abdu and Reputka with Offering Bearers

Place

Egypt (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.

2345 BCE–2181 BCE

Medium

Limestone

Dimensions

120.7 × 50.2 × 7.6 cm (47 1/2 × 19 3/4 × 3 in.)

Credit Line

Museum Purchase Fund

Reference Number

1920.266

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.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/95583/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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