Peasants Driving Cattle and Fishing for Fish

Date2450 BC

Object PlaceEgypt, North Africa, Africa

MediumPainted limestone

ClassificationsSculpture

Dimensions27 inches × 18 1/2 inches (68.58 × 46.99 cm)
Left section: 18 1/2 inches × 27 inches (46.99 × 68.58 cm)
Right section: 18 × 32 inches (45.72 × 81.28 cm)

Credit LineCity of Detroit Purchase

Terms

Dynasty 6

Object number2E

DescriptionMan at far left, shown in profile, walks behind eight cattle. Leading them is another man, also in profile carrying a calf on his back. To the right are four men who stand on a flat boat. They are pulling a net catching fish swimming beneath their boat. Three of these men are preserved only from the chest down and the other is bent over to the left pulling the net. The flesh of all the men is painted dark red and the water has traces of blue with some remains of zigzag black lines.

On View

On view

Collections

Egyptian Objects from the DIA

Locations

Treatment Demo Museum (Hanover Square), Conservation, Fine Art

ProvenanceBernard Bothmer called attention to the fact that this relief may be a part of the mastaba decoration of Ny-ankh-nesut, as discussed by William Stevenson Smith. The tomb of Ny-ankh-nesut was found at Saqqara; reliefs from it were dispersed by the dealer Jacob Hirsch around 1930. As the Detroit piece 30.371 was purchased from Kawam Brothers, Cairo, and not Hirsch, and as there is no inscription, it is not certain that it is part of the decoration from the Ny-ankh-nesut tomb. However, there are two arguments in favor of this identification: stylistic resemblances between the Detroit piece and the group of reliefs from the tomb of Ny-ankh-nesut are striking; the Detroit piece came on the antiquities market at the same time as the Hirsch pieces. Scholars now generally agree that the Detroit piece is from the tomb of Ny-ankh-nesut. See the references for the location of the tomb.