Art Institute of Chicago

Tomb Wall Fragment Depicting Abdu and Reputka with Offering Bearers

Egyptian; Tomb of Abdu, Giza, Egypt

Date

Old Kingdom, Dynasty 6 (about 2345–2181 BCE)

Medium

Limestone

Culture

Egypt

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Leaning on a tall staff that marks his high social status, Abdu stands beside his wife, Reputka. Such portraits, showing the deceased with idealized rather than individualized faces and bodies, were commonly used in the tomb chapels of upper-class Egyptians. The artisans who decorated these chambers worked from a canon of scenes and poses depicting daily life, family, and religious imagery. Fashions changed over time, but some scenes—such as the image of a wife embracing her husband with one arm, used here and in the fragmentary statue at right—were standard for thousands of years. Names and titles written in hieroglyphs around Abdu’s and Reputka’s heads personalize the images of the eternally youthful couple.

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