The Tomb of Meketre

Copyright John Freed 2012

Copyright John Freed, 2012

Meketre was an Egyptian official who lived in the late Eleventh Dynasty. His tomb was found (accidentally!) at Thebes.

The tomb is famous for its well preserved wooden statues. These statues showed boats, scenes of running an estate (loading grain into a granary, force feeding cattle to make them fatter, making beer, etc.) and servants bringing food offerings to Meketre. These statues were split between the Cairo Museum and the Metropolitan Museum.

The statue that I especially like is that of a servant girl carrying food. It is about 1/2 life-size and is displayed in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The body of the statue is made of wood and is very gracefully carved. The arms were made of separate pieces of wood that have been attached to the body. The statue was covered with a thin coat of plaster and beautifully painted.

Also note how she is holding a bird by it's wings in her right hand. I have seen women in Cairo (on the bus that runs from Tahrir Square to the pyramids at Giza) doing exactly the same thing. It really brings home the fact that, in some ways, people have not changed much since ancient times.