Relief of an Acacia Tree Shading Water Jars with Drinking Cups

Relief of an Acacia Tree Shading Water Jars with Drinking Cups

Period:Middle KingdomDynasty:Dynasty 11Reign:reign of Mentuhotep II, earlyDate:ca. 2051–2030 B.C.Geography:From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Tomb of Neferu (TT 319, MMA 31), MMA excavations, 1923–25Medium:Limestone, paintDimensions:H. 83 x W. 88.5 cm (32 11/16 x 34 13/16 in.)


In this picturesque image of water jars beneath an acacia tree, each jar for ready use topped by a drinking cup, there may be hidden allusions to beliefs about the afterlife. In the Old Kingdom, an institution called “the acacia house” was maintained at the solar cult site of Heliopolis (near present day Cairo). To this institution belonged a group of women who served as mourners and ritual dancers at each pharaoh’s funeral. Queen Neferu may have been a member of Mentuhotep II’s acacia house.
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/552052