Harvard Art Museums > 1977.185: Relief fragment from the tomb of Tepemankh Sculpture Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Relief fragment from the tomb of Tepemankh , 1977.185,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 23, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/288046. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text This relief includes parts of two horizontally stacked scenes from the tomb of a senior official named Tepemankh. In the upper scene, only the feet survive; below, two men are being hauled off for punishment by Tjenti, a policeman who is named in the hieroglyphic text. The men presumably owe a debt to Tepemankh, who would have been depicted farther to the right. The drawing you see here, by Harvard professor Peter Der Manuelian, shows how inscriptions can be studied through a method called digital epigraphy. Such drawings, made directly on a computer, allow archaeologists to record and communicate the lines an ancient artist carved. They also show an object’s modern condition: compare the damaged parts of this relief to the gray areas of the drawing. Additionally, this method lets us "reunite" tomb scenes that are now scattered across museum collections. The scene in front of you continues on a relief in Cairo, visible here on the right side of the drawing. Identification and Creation Object Number 1977.185 Title Relief fragment from the tomb of Tepemankh Other Titles Former Title: Recalcitrant Taxpayers Classification Sculpture Work Type relief, sculpture Date 2465-2400 BCE Places Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Africa, Saqqara (Egypt) Period Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5 Culture Egyptian Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/288046 Location Location Level 3, Room 3740, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Egypt: Art for Eternity View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium limestone, paint Technique Carved Dimensions 28.6 cm h x 57.4 cm w x 4.5 cm d (11 1/4 x 22 5/8 x 1 3/4 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: upper right, raised relief, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs: sA-pr Tnti [policeman Tjenti] inscription: middle center, on crack (under arm of central standing figure), raised relief, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs: HqA [(?)] inscription: lower center, on crack (between central kneeling and standing figures), raised relief, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs: Nfr-Hr-(?) [Nefer-her-(?)] inscription: upper center left (to right of the head of the leftmost figure), raised relief, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs: imy-r sSr Xnmw-HAp [Overseer of cloth Khnum(?)-hap] inscription: lower left corner, raised relief, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs: Nswt-k[…] [Ni-ka-nisut or Ka-ni-nisut?] Provenance Recorded Ownership History Tomb of Tepemankh, Saqqara, Egypt. [Spink and Son, Ltd.]. Dorothy Dear Metzger Hutton (Mrs. Edward F. Hutton) (by 1972), sold; through [Sotheby Parke-Bernet]; to Leon Harris, (1972-1977), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1977. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Leon Harris, Jr., in honor of Simon Michael Bessie, class of 1936 Accession Year 1977 Object Number 1977.185 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description This fragment includes scenes, executed in raised relief, from two registers. In the lower and better preserved one, two individuals are being dragged toward the right by two others. These have been identified as recalcitrant taxpayers being hauled before the tomb owner whose figure would have stood farther to the right, facing them. There is extensive labeling of subordinate figures in hieroglyphic script. Commentary Fragment of a wall relief from the tomb of Tepemankh (pronounced TEP-em-ahnk). This relief fragment comes from the east wall of the tomb's long corridor. The tomb was a mastaba: a tomb with an oblong, rectangular superstructure containing the corridor and an offering chamber above ground and an underground burial chamber . It was designated mastaba "D11" by early Egyptologist Auguste Mariette; it is also referred to as Mastaba 76. Tepemankh is sometimes referred to as "Tepemankh II" (also spelled "Tep-em-ankh II") by scholars, in order to distinguish him from another individual named Tepemankh who was also buried at Saqqara during the Old Kingdom period. Publication History Peter Der Manuelian, A Market Scene from the Tomb of Tepemankh, Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids, Metropolitan Museum of Art / Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, 1999), 404-407, p. 405, fig. 126 Exhibition History Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/22/2007 - 01/20/2008 32Q: 3740 Egyptian, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/31/2023 - 01/01/2050 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
