Ramp Building Scene, Tomb of Rekhmire
ca. 1504–1425 B.C.
Medium
Tempera on paper
Dimensions
facsimile: h. 49.5 cm (19 1/2 in); w. 53.5 cm (21 1/16 in), scale 1:1, framed: h.
Classification
Facsimile, Rekhmire (TT 100), ramp building
Period
New Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1948
Accession Number
48.105.17
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling world of ancient Egypt with this vivid *Ramp Building Scene* from the Tomb of Rekhmire, a masterful facsimile created by Nina de Garis Davies. Dating to the New Kingdom's 18th Dynasty (. 1504–1425 B.C.), the original wall painting adorned the tomb of Rekhmire, a powerful vizier who served under pharaohs Thutmose III and Amenep II. It captures workers hauling massive stone blocks up an earthen ramp—a common engineering feat used to construct towering temples and pyramids—highlighting the organized labor and ingenuity of Egyptian builders. These tomb scenes were more than...
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...