Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

Models representing daily life were placed in tombs, with the intention that they would provide the deceased with a continuation of the pleasures and wealth of his/her life. This piece represents activities on a busy estate. The owner (or manager) and a scribe sit on a balcony overlooking a central courtyard. Workers in the courtyard and on the stairs fill granary bins located to the left of the courtyard; they may have been carrying sacks of grain. In the room behind the courtyard, grain is used to brew beer and to bake bread. To the right, weavers are busy preparing cloth; their positions indicate their activity since the looms themselves are missing. This model was found during the excavations of Mastaba B, a part of the Pyramid complex at Lisht. It was buried in the tomb of a man named Djehuty, who was an official in the court of Sesostris I.