Art Institute of Chicago

Relief Fragment Depicting Merettetiiyet with Offerings

Egyptian; offering niche of Merettetiiyet, Teti Pyramid Cemetery, Saqqara, Egypt

Date

First Intermediate Period, Dynasty 10, about 2050 BCE

Medium

Limestone and pigment

Culture

Saqqara

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This pair of panels (along with 1910.224 ) was part of a painted offering niche designed for a woman named Meret-Teti-iyet. The fragmentary upper scenes depict people bringing offerings to sustain her in the afterlife. Meret-Teti-iyet sits behind piles of food at the bottom of each panel, facing approaching visitors. On this panel, she holds a closed lotus blossom on her lap; on the other one, she sniffs an open lotus flower. The lotus, which opens with the rising sun and sinks beneath the water at night, was a symbol of renewal and rebirth in ancient Egypt.

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