Through the Eras

Visual Artsof his eye. His shoulders seem to twist to a frontal viewwhile his torso violently twists back to a profile. Onlyhis nipple remains in the frontal view. From his waist tohis feet, the view of Akhety-hotep is in profile. The artist,however, has given him two left feet, also a conventionof Egyptian relief. Both feet display the arch and the bigtoe as closest to the viewer. This view should only be possibleof the left foot. Finally, the hieroglyphs directly infront of his face spell his name, thereby individualizingthis conventional image as one particular official. In factthe image of Akhety-hotep is properly a hieroglyph. Inhieroglyphic writing, the final sign in a name is an imageof a man or of an official if a man had achieved thatstatus. Thus the image acts as the final hieroglyph in thewriting of his name.SEATED OFFICIAL IN RELIEF. The relief of Setjauillustrates a typical offering scene with a seated official.Reliefs of seated officials before an offering table wereplaced above the false door in a mastaba tomb. Here thepriests offered food, drink, cosmetics, ointments, ritualoils, and clothes to the deceased during the ritual. Thisrelief depicts Setjau receiving these gifts that he needs inthe afterlife while sitting on a stool carved with animallegs. Even through the damage, it is possible to see thathis face is in profile, except for the eye that the artist hascarved frontally. The shoulders twist to a frontal viewwhile the torso, legs, and feet are in a profile view. Setjauholds a ritual object in his clasped left hand. His rightarm reaches forward with an open hand touching theofferings on the table. This gesture suggests he has receivedthe offerings that the priests made. This hand, asis commonly the case, appears to be a left hand too,though it is attached to the right arm, nearer to theviewer. The thumb is at the bottom rather than the top,the place the viewer would expect it if this relief werea version of visual reality. Setjau is surround by hieroglyphs.The top horizontal line contains his titles andname, individualizing this conventional image. The hieroglyphsaround the offering table enumerate the offeringsthat Setjau can expect to receive for eternity.WORKERS. Workers appear in scenes of farm lifeand manufacturing in Old Kingdom tombs. In the reliefcalled Men Presenting Cattle it is clear that thesame conventions governing portrayals of kings and officialsdid not apply for agricultural workers, or indeedany workers in Egyptian society. The three workers areall balding, not anything like the idealized kings andofficials. Though the basic conventions can be found inEgyptian representations of workers, the man at theupper right side of this relief might represent a comicview of workers. This man is balding and nude. In generalEgyptian artists only portrayed nudity for the childrenof the upper classes. Rather than having an idealizedbody, this man displays a pot-belly. Moreover, hisright foot is forward as he walks rather than the conventionalleft foot. Though such a detail might seem minor,viewed against a background of hundreds ofexamples from Egyptian art, this is a major deviationfrom the conventions. Egyptian artists could exercisemuch more freedom in their depictions of workers thanthey could when portraying kings and officials. Thisfreedom also stems, in part, from the fact that the scenesof daily life required more complicated poses in order todepict certain actions.SOURCESMetropolitan Museum of Art, Egyptian Art in the Age of thePyramids (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1999).Edna R. Russmann, Egyptian Sculpture: Cairo and Luxor(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989).—, “A Second Style in Egyptian Art of the Old Kingdom,”in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologishen InstitutsAbteilung Kairo 51 (1995): 269–279.SEE ALSO Architecture: Fourth-Dynasty Architectureand HistoryTHE MIDDLE KINGDOMNEW TRENDS. The visual art of the Middle Kingdom(2008–1630 B.C.E.) displays both regional stylesand development through time. The art created duringthe Eleventh Dynasty (2008–1938 B.C.E.) displays adistinct style that originated in Thebes, the home ofNebhepetre Mentuhotep, the king who reunified Egyptand founded the Middle Kingdom. In the Twelfth Dynasty(1938–1759 B.C.E.), Memphis was once morethe Egyptian capital. Artists drew inspiration from OldKingdom (2675–2170 B.C.E.) models found in this area.They reestablished this older art as the official style. Yetthey also continued to develop within this older tradition.Representations of kings remained the most commonand most important subject for Egyptian artistsduring the Middle Kingdom. Statues of kings convenientlyillustrate the regional differences in Egyptian artduring the Middle Kingdom as well as developmentsthrough time.NEBHEPETRE MENTUHOTEP. King NebhepetreMentuhotep (2008–1957 B.C.E.) reunited Egypt afternearly 150 years when local princes ruled small provincesafter the collapse of the Sixth Dynasty (c. 2170 B.C.E.).Mentuhotep’s family had been the local princes of Thebes,Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 289