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Relief of Zezennakht
Once Known Artistabout 2000 BCE
The Toledo Museum of Art
Toledo, United States
Executed in high relief, in which the background of the limestone slab was carved away, the image of Zezen-nakht confronts the standard offering formula, which begins at upper right with two hieroglyphs meaning “an offering.” The inscriptions at right also include his names, titles, and accomplishments, as well as a dense collection of offerings. A powerful man, Zezen-nakht is depicted wearing a curled wig, sandals, and starched linen kilt. His collars and bracelets are of gold vibrantly combined with turquoise and carnelian.
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Details
- Title: Relief of Zezennakht
- Creator: Once Known Artist
- Date Created: about 2000 BCE
- Location Created: Ancient Egypt, Africa
- Physical Dimensions: 26 1/4 × 31 5/8 × 3 1/2 in. (66.7 × 80.3 × 8.9 cm)
- Subject Keywords: stele; hieroglyphs; figure; man; tomb; Naga ed-Deir
- Type: Sculpture
- Rights: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
- External Link: Toledo Museum of Art
- Medium: Limestone with stucco and polychrome pigment
- Depicted Person: Zezen-nakht
- Fun Fact: The figure of Zezen-nakht stands as a commanding presence on this stele, a free-standing marker stone, set up in the offering chamber of Zezen-nakht's tomb in the huge cemetery at Naga-ed-Dęr, a village about seventy miles northwest of Luxor. Zezen-nakht must have been the ruler of an area along the Nile River during the First Intermediate Period, after the centralized government of the Old Kingdom�the age of the pyramid builders�had collapsed, but just before the reunification of Egypt under the first kings of the Middle Kingdom.The boldly painted figure embodies the power and nobility idealized by the Egyptians. The trappings of wealth and success are neatly rendered�curled wig; clean-shaven face; broad collar and wrist bands made of carnelian (red), gold (yellow), and faience (blue) beads; linen kilt; and tooled leather sandals. Zezen-nakht is shown with reddish-brown skin, the Egyptian convention for men, who worked out of doors in the sun. The long staff and scepter are traditional emblems of authority.The Stele's bottom register depicts offerings for Zezen-nakht to consume in the afterlife: bread and onions, beef and birds, beer, and alabaster jars filled with wine and perfumes. Hieroglyphic words are oriented to the right, to show that they are spoken by Zezen-nakht:(line 1) An offering which the king gives to Anubis, he who is upon his mountain, he who is bandaged, lord of the necropolis, that the voice may go forth with bread and beer for (2) the Hereditary Prince, Overseer of the Army, he who speaks up (3) and the nobles are silent on the day of the great council, (4) Zezen-Nakht says: "I am one beloved of his father, (5) praised of his mother, whom his brothers and sisters love, (6) I am one beloved of his young recruits, pleasant to his family."
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