<em>Nursing Scene</em>, ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E. Limestone, 4 1/16 x 10 11/16 in. (10.3 x 27.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 37.405. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.405_wwg8_2024_edited.jpg)

Nursing Scene, ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E. Limestone, 4 1/16 x 10 11/16 in. (10.3 x 27.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 37.405. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.405_wwg8_2024_edited.jpg)

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Tell me more.

Here you see a mother nursing her child. The pair can likely be identified as the queen Nefertiti and one of her daughters. The period of Akhenaten's rule, known as the Amarna Period, represented a shift in many ways.

The capital of Egypt was moved to the city of Amarna, significant changes were made to the religion and the official artistic style.

In this period the royal family is often shown as a family unit and portrayed in loving, tender situations like this or another relief in this room that shows Nefertiti kissing one of her daughters.

What is the date of these art works?

All of the artworks in this gallery date to the reign of a pharaoh who went by the name Akhenaten. He ruled from about 1352 to 1336 BCE.

What materials and tools were used to make these?

The two lighter colored reliefs are carved in limestone and the darker one is granite.

Like with all ancient Egyptian stone carving, artisans would have created rough shapes with metal chisels (copper or bronze) and smoothed out the details using sand as an abrasive.

What is the purpose of works like these?

The two limestone reliefs likely come from a wall in a temple. The granite fragment may come from a larger sculpture. All three show royal women from the time of the pharaoh Akhenaten.

The nursing scene (at the top) is meant to show the strong bonds of the royal family. It likely depicts the Queen Nefertiti and one of her daughters. The fragment to the left shows two princesses, likely also Nefertiti's daughters. The princesses had important symbolic and religious roles. The granite fragment to the right also depicts Nefertiti, she can be seen receiving symbols of life from hands that seem to be coming from the sky. The arms can be understood a emanating from an image of the sun like rays. The chief deity during this time, the Aten, was shown as a sun disk.

Nursing Scene

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

MEDIUM Limestone

Place Excavated: Tell el-Amarna, Egypt

DATES ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E.

DYNASTY late Dynasty 18

PERIOD New Kingdom, Amarna Period

DIMENSIONS 4 1/16 x 10 11/16 in. (10.3 x 27.2 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.405

CREDIT LINE Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society

PROVENANCE Tell el-Amarna, Egypt; 1936-37, excavated by John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury for the Egypt Exploration Society, excavation no. 36-7/20; 1937, gift of the Egypt Exploration Society to the Brooklyn Museum.

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EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Amarna Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Nursing Scene, ca. 1352–1336 B.C.E. Limestone, 4 1/16 x 10 11/16 in. (10.3 x 27.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 37.405. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.405_wwg8_2024_edited.jpg)

IMAGE overall, CUR.37.405_wwg8_2024_edited.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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