Procession Bringing Offerings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2008

Procession Bringing Offerings (M)
Dynasty 12, early reign of Amenemhat I, (ca. 1981-1975 BC)
Painted wood
Model chamber, Tomb of Meketre, (MMA 1101), western Thebes

Accession # 20.3.8

Two men and two women, possibly Meketre's sons and daughters, walk in step on a narrow base. The first man carries a large libation vase and an incense burner for use in an offering ritual; the second balances a pile of linen on his head. One linen sheet is dyed red. Linen was an indispensible part of every Egyptian burial: the mummified body was wrapped in it, and folded linen sheets filled the coffin above the mummy. Both women have baskets- the firsts containing beer bottles and conical loaves of bread, the second containing square loaves- and both women hold geese or ducks by their wings. Together the group is equipped with all the essentials for a proper burial and funeral ritual.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.