Egyptian. <em>Furniture Attachment (?) in Form of Bound Prisoner</em>, ca. 1539–1292 B.C.E. Wood, 6 3/4 x 1 1/2 x 3/4 in. (17.1 x 3.8 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.612E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.612E_NegH1_print_bw.jpg)

Egyptian. Furniture Attachment (?) in Form of Bound Prisoner, ca. 1539–1292 B.C.E. Wood, 6 3/4 x 1 1/2 x 3/4 in. (17.1 x 3.8 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.612E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.612E_NegH1_print_bw.jpg)

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Why does this have a hole in it?

This object likely originated as part of a piece of furniture, with the hole being used to join two pieces of wood. Wood had to be imported into ancient Egypt so it was quite expensive and rare. However, more woodworking survives from ancient Egypt than some other places because of the climate.

Bound figures, which usually represent defeated enemies, could represent the might of Egypt and the power of the owner.

This piece is hilarious.

I agree! I photographed it the first time I came to this museum, before I worked here, because I thought it was so funny. It would have been part of a piece of furniture, that's what the hole is for. The ancient Egyptians thought they were the rightful rulers of the world so sometimes they depicted foreigners trampled underfoot, like this poor fellow.

Sounds inhuman.

You're right, ancient history is not always nice...in fact, it's frequently not nice!

Why is this carving's head turned this way?

It does look pretty unusual doesn't it, he is meant to look uncomfortable! Bound prisoners with contorted bodies were relatively common in ancient Egyptian decorative arts. They represented foreign prisoners of war and, by association, Egyptian domination over their neighbors.

In a furniture fitting like this one, the head contortion also helps to streamline the object and make it better fit into its place.

Ah! That makes sense! Thank you

Why is the head sideways?

Often in Egyptian Art you'll see a unique combination of perspectives that allows a viewer to get the maximum amount of visual information from a single point of view!

We aren't certain how exactly this figure was used, but it seems likely that it was attached to a piece of furniture and it may be that the head is facing in the direction that would be most visible.

Furniture Attachment (?) in Form of Bound Prisoner

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor

Wood, Bone, and Ivory in the New Kingdom

Egyptian artists were resourceful in overcoming the problems of working with difficult materials to make the objects seen here.

Egyptian trees, such as acacia, sycamore, and tamarisk, are too small to produce large planks. Carpenters working with native woods thus had to develop complicated joinery techniques to build large objects like coffins and furniture. For expensive luxury items they used timbers such as ebony, cedar, and juniper, imported from Nubia and Punt to the south and Syria and Lebanon to the northeast. Ancient craftsmen used tools that would be familiar to modern carpenters, including adzes, chisels, reamers, and saws. Many ancient Egyptian wooden objects left in tombs as funerary offerings have survived remarkably well. Undisturbed tombs maintain extremely stable climatic conditions, slowing the effects of repeated expansion and contraction that are so damaging to wood. Egypt’s relatively dry climate also discourages the growth of mold, insects, and microorganisms that feed on wood.

Ancient Egyptian ivory used for carving came from the tusks of elephants and hippopotami. Elephants had probably disappeared from Egypt by the end of the Predynastic Period (circa 3100 B.C.E.), so their ivory had to be imported from Nubia. Hippopotami remained common in the lower Nile Valley until the seventeenth century C.E. Some antiquities mistakenly said to be made of ivory are actually made of the bones or antlers of cattle, sheep, goats, and antelopes. Egyptians used the often ideally shaped leg bones of these animals to create the handles of tools or weapons.

CULTURE Egyptian

MEDIUM Wood

Place Made: Egypt

DATES ca. 1539–1292 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 18

PERIOD New Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 6 3/4 x 1 1/2 x 3/4 in. (17.1 x 3.8 x 1.9 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.612E

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Wooden figure of a bound prisoner (arms at the sides) without bindings. The head is turned to the left. Small vertical holes are seen in the head and neck and large vertical slot exists in the top of the back. Condition: Cracked slightly on the front of the simple kilt shown. Crack at the lower right edge of kilt and in right leg, these last two being intentional. Four slits in the surface around the edge of the vertical slot on the back appear to be intentional as well.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Egyptian. Furniture Attachment (?) in Form of Bound Prisoner, ca. 1539–1292 B.C.E. Wood, 6 3/4 x 1 1/2 x 3/4 in. (17.1 x 3.8 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.612E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.612E_NegH1_print_bw.jpg)

IMAGE overall, CUR.37.612E_NegH1_print_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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