PANTONE 305-7 PANTONE 305-1 PANTONE 228-5 PANTONE 228-8

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Ancient Civilizations Object Information Sheet 6th Grade 12

Egyptian, Thebes, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasties 25–26, ca. 660 B.C.Limestone with polychrome14 x 18 in. (35.6 x 45.7 cm)Museum purchase, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum 51.4.2

Meet...

HIEROGLYPH DETAIL

relief, a man cleans blue-finned fish. Along the lower , a male and female are shown balancing baskets on their heads. The woman carries grapes in her basket, and the man carries cucumbers, loaves of bread, and

a large head of lettuce. Can you tell which is which? Egyptian art portrays women with light

skin and men with dark skin. This difference in skin color is a sign of the division of labor between

men and women. In Egypt, men worked outside in the sun, while women worked mostly indoors.

Egyptian artists wanted to create the most detailed view of a figure. To do so, they drew the head and feet in profile and the body turned towards the viewer. Likewise, Egyptian artists did not try to show . Notice how the fish pictured at the right of the relief appear to float. If the artist showed the fish in perspective, lying on the ground, you would not be able to see all the details.

Next to the lower figures are . Hieroglyphics is a type of writing that uses pictures or symbols to represent ideas or sounds. The hieroglyphic writing next to the male figure in the lower register reads, “produce for the temple scribe of the domain of Amun.” The writings next to the woman read, “grapes for the fourth prophet of Amun.” This title refers to Governor Ment, who was also known as the fourth prophet of the god Amun.

Like the Assyrian Winged Genius, this wall painting was not simply decorative. It served as an offering from Governor Ment to the god Amun. The food pictured on the panel was also a source of nourishment for the Governor’s ka, or soul. Tomb paintings were believed to create a place of eternal comfort for the spirit of the dead. Governor Ment had plenty of servants and food in the living world, and he planned to enjoy the same comforts after death. If you were an Egyptian, what kind of objects would you have painted on the walls of your tomb to make sure you enjoyed eternal comfort?

This tells us about more than just what Governor Ment needed in the afterlife. It also tells us about Egyptian society. Egyptian society had a very strict class system. In a class system, poor people are considered to be at the very bottom. Then come those who earn a middle income, and finally the rich are at the top. In a strict class system it is hard for poor people to ever become rich because they are forced to take low-paying jobs. The lowest and largest part of Egyptian society was made up of servants, like those seen here, and farmers, who grew the foods the servants carry. The artisans who made such scenes were also part of the lower tier of society. These men and women provided goods and services for Governor Ment and other officials. The top officials, in turn, served the king. In Egypt, the king was considered a god; he owned all of the land and controlled all of the people through officials such as Governor Ment. With such an important job, do you think the king ever took a vacation?

FISH CLEANING DETAIL

Meet...Who:

Mentuemhet or Governor MentRole:

An Egyptian official who built a tomb that contained this painted wall relief

When: Around 2,660 years ago

Where: Thebes, a city located on the Nile in Upper Egypt

What: Offering food to the god Amun

An official for the king, Governor Ment held many titles and responsibilities. He was governor of Upper Egypt, mayor of Thebes, and fourth of

. In short, he controlled the army, politics, and religion in Upper Egypt. If you were alive at the time, like the figures in this painting, you probably would have been under his control. Governor Ment was also responsible for restoring old temples and funding large building projects. His tomb, where this relief was found, was one of the largest tombs built for a non-royal citizen. By studying this tomb painting, we can learn about Governor Ment and Egyptian society.

Governor Ment built his burial tomb near Thebes. Thebes is a city located on the Nile River in southern Egypt. When this relief was made 2,660 years ago,

Egypt’s power was beginning to weaken. In 671 B.C. all of Egypt, including Thebes, fell to the Assyrian Empire.

This painted wall panel depicts three figures who are busy doing everyday tasks. At the top of the

someone who can tell the future

a band on a wall in which images are drawn or carved to tell a story

drawing or painting the distance between objects as the human eye sees distances

a form of writing that uses pictures or symbols to represent ideas, sounds or objects

a god associated with things hidden such as the wind. Amun was later known as Amun-Re, the king of the gods.

lasting forever, never ending

A relief is formed by carving away stone or other materials to create a shape. The height between the carved image and the background can be in either high or low relief. In a high relief, the carving is so deep that the object is almost separated from the background. In this example, the difference between the background and the figure is shallow, or a low relief.

EGYPT

Governor Ment needed many artists to restore the old temples around Thebes and complete his new building projects. Many of the artists he employed lived in this village, called Deir el-Medina. This is now a famous archaeological site. Governor Ment’s tomb is located less than a mile away from this village. Notice in the background the lush green land along the banks of the Nile River. This photograph shows the stark contrast of the Egyptian landscape.

PANTONE 305-7 PANTONE 305-1 PANTONE 228-5 PANTONE 228-8

AUSTRIA

ITALY

HUNGARYROMANIA

BULGARIAANDORRA

SERBIA

ALBANIA

MONTENEGRO

BOSNIA

CROATIA

SLOVENIASWITZERLAND

MACEDONIA

LUX.

Clermont-Ferrand

Banja Luka

Innsbruck

Khania

Larisa

Xanthi

Pecs

Bari

Catania

Arad

Brai la

Bilbao

Salamanca

Zaragoza

Antalya

Split

Tirane

Sarajevo

Sofia

Zagreb

Athens

Rome Skopje

Kishinev

Monaco

Bucharest

Madrid

Bern

Ljubljana

SPAIN

PORTUGAL TURKEY

RUSSIA

GREECE

CYPRUS

ETHIOPIA

ERITREA

SUDAN

EGYPT

NIGERMAURITANIAMALI

NIGERIASOMALIA

LIBYA

CHAD

ALGERIA

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

TUNISIAMOROCCO

TOGO

BENIN

GHANAIVORY COAST

LIBERIASIERRA LEONE

GUINEABURKINA

CAMEROON

WESTERNSAHARA

SENEGAL

CanaryIslands

JORDAN

ISRAEL

LEBANON

QATARBAHRAIN

U. A. E.

YEMEN

SYRIA

IRAQ

IRAN

OMAN

SAUDI ARABIA

TURKMENISTAN

MALTA

CZECHREPUBLIC UKRAINE

FRANCE

GERMANY

MOLDOVA

Annaba

Djanet

Beni Suef

Al Jawf

Tessal i t

Tangier

KatsinaMaiduguri

Layoun

BatnaOran

Ouargla

Reggane

Timimoun

Ebolowa

Bangassou

Bossangoa

Ndele

Aozou

Faya-Largeau

Moundou

Aswan

El-Minya

Suez

Asela

Goba

Mekele

Tamale

I rak l ion

Kankan

Bakhtaran

Baku

Bam

Bandar Abbas

Kerman

Korhogo

Man

Banghazi

Marzuq

Misratah

Sabhah

Araouane

Gao

Kayes

Taoudenni

Tombouctou

Atar

Marrakech

Agades

Bi lma

Tahoua

Zinder

KadunaZaria

Al Khaluf

Salalah

Al Madinah (Medina)

Makkah (Mecca)

Berbera

Palma

Al Fashir

Atbarah

Juba

Port Sudan

Wau

Gafsa Sfax

Gulu

Al Ghaydan

Al MukallaTaizz

Malaga

Zonguldak

Esfahan

Mashhad

Shiraz

Tabriz

Al Basrah

Mosel

Ibadan

Damascus

AleppoAdana

Izmir

Alexandria

Casablanca

Burgas

Varna

BordeauxLyon

Marseille

Nantes

ToulouseFirenze

GenovaTurin

Cluj

Constanta

Timisoara

Belgrade

Barcelona

Cordoba

Sevilla

Valencia

Valladolid

Geneva

Zurich

Bursa

Istanbul

FrunzeOdessa

Kiev

Bayonne

Milano

Naples

Palermo

Venezia

Porto Novo

Ouagadougou

Yaounde

N’DjamenaDjibouti

Asmara

Addis Abbaba

Gibraltar Tehran

BaghdadAmman

Kuwait

Tripoli

Bamako

Vallelta

Nouakchott

Niamey

Abuja

Muscat

Riyadh

Tunis

Ankara

Abu Zaby

Sanaa

Algers

Bangui

Nicosia

Cairo

Malabo

Accra

Conakry

Bissau

Jerusalem

Abidjan

Beirut

Monrovia

Rabat

Lisbon

Freetown

Khartoum

Lome

Ancient Civilizations Object Information Sheet 6th Grade

Egyptian, Late Dynastic Period, 747–332 B.C.Alabaster13 in. (33 cm)Gift of M. H. de Young 20298.4a–b

3

EGYPT

LID D

ETAIL

HIEROGLYPH DETAIL

Mummification was crucial to the Egyptian cult of the dead. Egyptians

believed that without the body, the spirit would wander the world forever and never

know the pleasures of the afterlife. Qebehsenuf—our Hawk God—and his three brothers, Imset, Ha’py and Duamutef, played an important role in the cult of the dead. They were in charge of protecting the body once it was sealed in a tomb.

In order to preserve the body after death, it was first . Then the organs were removed from the

body. The Egyptians thought that all knowledge was held in the heart. It was the only organ allowed to remain in the mummified body. The brain was considered unimportant and was thrown away after being removed through the nose. According to the Book of the Dead, the god Anubis weighed the heart against the “feather of truth.” The gods read the scales to determine if the dead person was “pure of heart.” Good deeds made the heart light, while bad deeds made it heavy. If the heart balanced with the feather, the deceased was granted eternal life.

The other vital organs, including the liver, intestines,

Meet...Who:

God Qebehsenuf—we can call him Hawk God

Role: An Egyptian god who protected a mummy’s intestines. We can see him on the lid of this jar.

When: Around 2,500 years ago

Where: Ancient Egypt

What: A container for holding human organs

lungs, and stomach, were removed through a small opening in the torso. The organs were then cleaned, treated, and preserved in a mineral compound called . After being wrapped in linen, these organs were stored in small jars such as the one you see here. These are known as canopic jars.

The Egyptians topped these canopic jars with specially carved lids each in the form of one of the four sons of . The Egyptians believed that the sons of Horus would protect and preserve the organs inside the jars. These jars each held different organs: Imset, represented by the human head, guarded the liver; Ha’py, the baboon, protected the lungs; Duamutef, the jackal, protected the stomach; and Qebehsenuf—or Hawk God—protected the intestines.

In addition to protecting the organs, the four sons of Horus also served the deceased. They supported the body, joined the limbs together, washed the face, and opened the

mouth. Opening the mouth allowed the deceased to eat, breath, and speak. The

four sons also kept hunger and thirst away from the body.

The names of the owner and of the owner’s mother can be identified from the on this canopic jar.

to remove water or liquids from

This painting, which decorates a coffin, shows the steps of the mummification ritual. After the body was cleaned, mummified, and wrapped in linen, it was placed in a tomb along with the canopic jars. Can you find the hawk god and his three brothers in this painting? What other stages of the mummification ritual do you see?

a compound of sodium salt and carbonate acid used in embalming

Egyptian god of light, also related to the pharaoh or king; represented by the body of a man and the head of a hawk

a form of writing that uses pictures or symbols to represent ideas, sounds or objects

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