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Door jamb from the tomb of Mehi

EGYPT, Saqqara, tomb of Mehi
Door jamb from the tomb of Mehi
 2236 BCE-2143 BCE

Medium
limestone

Measurements
78.8 × 29.0 × 10.4 cm

Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1939
© Public Domain

Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International

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About this work

This door jamb comes from a tomb prepared for the government official Mehy.He is shown seated on a wooden chair with legs terminating in bull’s feet. Mehy wears an elaborate wig, a beaded collar and a pleated linen kilt, all attributes of a high official. He holds a sceptre in his right hand and a walking stick in his left, and the two columns of hieroglyphs above tell us that his titles were, ‘the District Governor, Seal-Bearer of the King of Lower Egypt, and Steward, Sole Companion and Lector-Priest’.

Artwork Details

Place/s of Execution
Saqqara, Egypt

Inscription
incised (vertically) u.r.-c.l.: (hieroglyphs) (translation: District Governor, Seal Bearer of the King of Lower Egypt, Steward / Seal bearer of the King of Lower Egypt, Sole Companion, Lector Priest Mehy)

Accession Number
D82A-1982

Department
Antiquities

This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited

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