Skip to main content

Block of limestone relief from tomb of Nefer

Object(s) photograph: Site: Giza; view: G 2110

Block of smooth-grained limestone relief (north door jamb); figure of Nefer in well modeled low relief, standing (facing right) with left foot forward and holding staff and scepter, three vertical columns of inscription in front of figure, row of scribes (four standing figures facing left identified as Nefru, Weni, Khentikauf, Senenuka) below inscription.

Details

  • ID
    MFAB_07.1002
  • Department
    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Classification
    Architectural elements-Relief
  • Findspot
    Mastaba G 2110
  • Material
    Limestone
  • Dimensions
    Height x width: 95 x 109.5 cm (37 3/8 x 43 1/8 in.)
  • Credit Line
    Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
  • Object Ownership Information
    MFA
  • Period
    Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, late reign of Khufu to mid Khafre
  • Date of Register Entry
    about 2540–2465 B.C.
  • Owner
    Nefer (G 2110)
  • Attested
    Khentikauf (in G 2110)
    Nefru (in G 2110)
    Senenuka (in G 2110)
    Weni (in G 2110)
  • Notes
    This object was excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, but was not recorded in any object register book. Excavated by the Harvard University–Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; 1907: assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Egypt. (Accession Date: August 1, 1907)

Tombs and Monuments 1

  • G 2110

    • Site Name Western Cemetery

Published Documents 8

Full Bibliography

  • Capart, Jean. Documents pour Servir À l'étude de l'art Égyptien, Publiés 2. Paris: Les Éditions du Pégase, 1931, pl. 23.

    Davis, Whitney. Masking the Blow: The Scene of Representation in Late Prehistoric Egyptian Art. California Studies in the History of Art 30: University of California Press, 1992 [to be completed].

    Dunham, Dows. "Portraiture in Ancient Egypt." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 41, No. 246 (December 1943), pp. 69-70, fig. 4.

    Dunham, Dows. The Egyptian Department and its Excavations. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1958, p. 148, fig. 121.

    Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999, pp. 285-286, cat. 79.

    Freed, Rita E., Lawrence M. Berman, and Denise M. Doxey. Arts of Ancient Egypt. MFA Highlights. Boston: MFA Publications, 2003, pp. 76-77.

    Manuelian, Peter Der. "Hemiunu, Pehenptah, and German/American Collaboration at the Giza Necropolis (Giza Archives Project Gleanings: II)." In Antje Spiekermann, ed. Zur Zierde gereicht. . . Festschrift Bettina Schmitz zum 60. Geburtstag am 24. Juli 2008, HIldesheimer Ägyptologische Beiträge 50. Hildesheim: Verlag Gebrüder Gerstenberg, 2008, p. 32, note 23.

    Manuelian, Peter Der. "A Re-examination of Reisner's Nucleus Cemetery Concept at Giza. Preliminary Remarks on Cemetery G 2100." In Miroslav Bárta, ed. The Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology. Proceedings of the Conference held in Prague, May 31-June 4, 2004. Prague: Czech Institute of Egyptology, 2006, p. 228.

    Manuelian, Peter Der. "Unfinished Business: The Giza Tablet of Tjenti (JE 72135)." In Mamdouh Eldmaty and Mai Trad, eds. Egyptian Museum Collections Around the World: Studies for the Centennial of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Cairo: Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2002, p. 788.

    Pijoán, José, and Manuel B. Cossío. El Arte Egipcio: Hasta La Conquista Romana. Summa Artis, Historia General Del Arte3. 3rd edition. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1950, p. 177, fig. 238.

    Reisner, George A. A History of the Giza Necropolis 1. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1942, p. [to be completed].

    Sanborn, Ashton. "New Installation of Egyptian Sculpture." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 23, No. 140 (December 1925), p. 73.

    Smith, William Stevenson. Ancient Egypt as Represented in the Museum of Fine Arts. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1942, pp. 34-35, fig. 13.

    Smith, William Stevenson. Ancient Egypt as Represented in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1960 (6th ed.), pp. 36-38, fig. 15.

    Smith, William Stevenson. A History of Egyptian Sculpture and Painting in the Old Kingdom. London: Oxford University Press, 1946, pl. 48.

    Smith, William Stevenson. "Old Kingdom Sculpture." American Journal of Archaeology 45 (1941), pp. 514-28.

    Spanel, Donald. Through Ancient Eyes: Egyptian Portraiture: An Exhibition Organized for the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama, April 21-July 31, 1988. Birmingham: The Museum, 1988, p. 36, fig. 40.

    Terrace, Edward L.B. "Masterpieces of the Pyramid Age in Boston." The Connoisseur 168, No. 677 (1968), pp. 197-204.

People 5

Ancient People

  • Khentikauf (in G 2110)

    • Type Attested
    • Remarks Appears in chapel relief in tomb of Nefer (owner of G 2110), displaced block of relief from north door jamb (MFA 07.1002) (one of four scribes, third figure from left), identified as [sS] scribe; originally from G 2110, chapel entrance.

  • Nefer (G 2110)

    • Type Owner
    • Remarks Owner of G 2110. Appears in chapel relief (south, west, and east walls; not all instances with inscription preserved), identifed as [(sAb) nxt-xrw HqA Hwt jmj-r sSw Xrt-a nswt Hrj-sStA nswt m swt nb sS pr-aA] strong-of-voice (of the judiciary), chief of the estate, overseer of scribes of the portfolios of the king, secretary of the king in all places, scribe of the Great House; in situ in G 2110. Displaced fragments of relief (three unregistered fragments + 36-12-2 = MFA 31.780), upper part of standing figures of Nefer and Wenankhes; originally from G 2110, south wall of chapel (lower part of figures still in situ). Displaced blocks of relief from south door jamb (Louvre B 51) and north door jamb (MFA 07.1002) inscribed for Nefer, identifed as [jmj-r Xkrw nswt nb xrp aprw nfrw jmj-r stj DfAw jmj-r pr-aHAw wr mDw Sma rx nswt jmj-r prwj-HD] overseer of all royal ornaments, director of crews of recruits, overseer of the two places of provisions, overseer of the house of weapons, great one of the tens of Upper Egypt, royal acquaintance, overseer of the two treasuries; originally from G 2110, chapel entrance. Displaced false door tablet with crossbar = lower lintel (Museo Barracco 1) inscribed for Nefer, identified as [jmj-r sSw aprw jmj-r pr-HD] overseer of scribes of the crews, overseer of the treasury; originally from G 2110, west wall of chapel. Limestone drum lintel (UPM_E13531) inscribed for Nefer, identified as [jmj-r sSw aprw xrp aprw nfrw sS a nswt jmj-r pr-HD] overseer of scribes of the crews, director of crews of recruits, royal document scribe, overseer of the treasury; found reused in G 3015, originally from G 2110, chapel entrance. Limestone reserve head (MFA 06.1886) attributed to Nefer; found in G 2110 A.

  • Nefru (in G 2110)

    • Type Attested
    • Remarks Appears in chapel relief in tomb of Nefer (owner of G 2110), displaced block of relief from north door jamb (MFA 07.1002) (one of four scribes, first figure on left), identified as [sS] scribe; originally from G 2110, chapel entrance.

  • Senenuka (in G 2110)

    • Type Attested
    • Remarks Appears in chapel relief in tomb of Nefer (owner of G 2110), displaced block of relief from north door jamb (MFA 07.1002) (one of four scribes, last figure on right), identified as [sS] scribe; originally from G 2110, chapel entrance. Possibly same individual as Senenuka Keki (owner of G 2041).

  • Weni (in G 2110)

    • Type Attested
    • Remarks Appears in chapel relief in tomb of Nefer (owner of G 2110), displaced block of relief from north door jamb (MFA 07.1002) (one of four scribes, second figure from left), identified as [sS pr Hrj-wDbw] scribe of the house, master of reversion-offerings; originally from G 2110, chapel entrance.