Four Model Vessels on Common Base

Four Model Vessels on Common Base

Model Food Offerings

Over time, new subjects came to be depicted within the tradition of displaying models of food offerings.

New Kingdom Egyptians continued the Middle Kingdom tradition of leaving smallscale replicas of food as funerary offerings in tombs. Although some types were known earlier—such as the trussed duck and miniature vessels—a new subject was the gazelle. As desert dwellers, gazelles symbolized the chaos that existed in the sterile lands flanking the Nile Valley. Bound gazelles therefore represented the desire for eternal control over chaos.

DATES ca. 1539-1075 B.C.E.

DYNASTY XVIII Dynasty-XX Dynasty

PERIOD New Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 1 9/16 x 3 1/4 x 3 1/8 in. (4 x 8.3 x 8 cm)

Brooklyn Museum

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