Statue of the Overseer of Stonemasons Senbebu and Family
Senbebu, overseer of stonemasons, sits between his wife and daughter in a Middle Kingdom sandstone group inscribed with the three names and titles. Full commentary ↓
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Statue of the Overseer of Stonemasons Senbebu and Family is a stone object by an unknown maker (ca. 1981–1802 B.C.) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In the pictureThree people sit side by side, carved from a single block of sandstone. The man in the middle wears a short kilt and has one knee raised, while the two women on either side wear long wigs and close-fitting dresses, with their hands on their knees. Hieroglyphs are carved on the back slab, and there are traces of paint on the surface. It is 22 cm tall.
BackgroundAccording to the inscription, the man in the middle is Senbebu, overseer of stonemasons, and those on either side are his family. Carving a family together in one stone expresses the wish that they remain together after death, and it is rare as a family statue of the artisan class rather than of kings or high officials. It is also possible that the overseer of stonemasons made his family's statue himself.
Puzzle tipAssemble the faces and wigs of the three figures first, and the picture's three pillars stand up. The man's raised knee and the women's arms are the next clues, and the inscribed pieces of the back slab fill the top. The gray background pieces are at the edges, so put them in last. Normal (about 48 pieces) is a good fit.
- Period
- Middle Kingdom
- Dynasty
- Dynasty 12
- Medium
- Sandstone
- Dimensions
- H. 22.2 cm (8 3/4 in.); W. 30 cm (11 13/16 in.); D. 16 cm (6
- Credit line
- Dodge Fund, 1956
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
Stories about this work
- Not Royal, Yet Remembered in Stone: An Egyptian Vizier, Nurse, and Mason
A vizier, a nurse, an overseer of stonemasons, an unknown official. People who were not royal could also set up statues of themselves in their tombs. The named commoners of Egyptian art.
