This man is part of a row of men who each are bringing food for the deceased person who had this relief in their tomb. Most of the servants bring a large bird, or a leg of beef, but this guy is an overachiever – a leg of beef AND 7 (small) birds!

The production of this relief is an odd mix of careful and slapdash work. The carving looks carefully done, to a well composed design. There’s nice detail on the hair and in the hieroglyphs, and I particularly like the way the birds are shown.

But then the painter has come along and slapped red paint on the figure without worrying about the edges. Except that he’s taken more care to not get skin colour on the beef or the kilt. Very odd. Perhaps the commissioner died so they finished it off in a hurry?

This piece is in the Cairo Museum (or was in 2016) but I know nothing else about it – I think it’s probably Old Kingdom in date, based on where it was in the museum (near other Old Kingdom stuff) and my amateur assessment of style!

See it on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/498 and go left for two more views of this relief.

Jigsaw puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=3a0a8c63f5ad
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=2da5fb58e8d3