Egyptian Fifth Dynasty (2494-2345 BC) Limestone 43.4 inches high x 12 inches wide

This shallow frieze relief frieze from the Fifth Dynasty (2494-2345 BC) depicts seven female offering bearers from the estates of Pehenuka, or 'Pehan', an inspector of Wa'ab priests at the pyramid Userkaf at Saqqara. Measuring almost four feet in length, the frieze features Pehenuka wearing a tightly-fitting sheath and walking to the left with the offering bearers carrying the gifts from Pehenuka's holdings. A series of hieroglyphs between each figure notes the contents that are carried:

Wine of Pehen, figs of Pehen, bread of Pehen, two caskets of Pehen, two sycamore-fig trees of Pehen, the roasted grain of Pehen in a woven satchel.

Recovered from the tomb of Pehen discovered in the late 19th century by the famous archaeologist Lepsius, the relief was studied extensively by the French scholar Jaquet-Gordon.

Provenance: From an English collection, 1970

Published: Lepsius, R. Denkmaeler us Aegypten and Aethipien, Volume III, Part2. 1945-1959. Berlin

Illustrated: Malek, J. (ed.) 1962. Las Noms Des Domaines Funeraires Sous L'Ancien Empire Egyptian, page 366. Cairo.

Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings III, Part 2, Saqqara to Dashur, pp. 491-492. 1978. Oxford.

Provenance: American private collection

THIS IS A VERY RARE CHANCE TO OWN SUCH A LARGE AND IMPORTANT PIECE OF EGYPTIAN HISTORY FROM THE TIME OF THE PYRAMIDS!