Menna's Daughter Offering to her Parents, Tomb of Menna
A.D. 1922; original ca. 1400–1352 B.C.
Medium
Tempera on paper
Dimensions
facsimile: h. 77.5 cm (30 1/2 in); w. 41 cm (16 1/8 in); scale 1:1; framed: 81.6 cm (32 1/8 in); w. 44 cm (17 5/16 in)
Classification
Facsimile, Menna (TT 69), woman offering
Period
Twentieth Century; original New Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1930
Accession Number
30.4.46
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the Tomb of Menna at Luxor, Egypt, this touching scene captures a young daughter presenting offerings—likely food and drink—to her seated parents, Menna and wife. Dating to the New Kingdom's Dynasty 18 (ca. 1400–1352 B.C.), during the reigns of Thutmose IV or Amenhotep, such tomb paintings served a vital afterlife purpose. They magically ensured the deceased family's eternal nourishment and prosperity, reflecting ancient Egyptian beliefs in the ka (life force) sustained by daily rituals. Menna, a high-ranking scribe and overseer of fields, commissioned these vibrant wall decorations to immo...
About the Artist
Nina de Garis Davies · 1881–1965
Nina de Garis Davies, born Anna Macpherson Cummings on January 6, 1881, in Salonika, Greece, to English-Scottish parents Cecil J. Cummings and Sarah Macintosh Tannoch, showed early artistic talent as the eldest of three daughters. After her father's death in 1894, the family relocated to Scotland and then London, where she trained at the Slade School of Art. In 1906, at age 25, a holiday trip to E...