Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Relief of Seankhkare Mentuhotep III and the Goddess Iunyt
Middle Kingdom
Not on view
This object is not part of The Met collection. It was in the Museum for a special exhibition and has been returned to the lender.
Parts of two scenes remain on this exquisite block. On the right, King Seankhkare Mentuhotep III faces the goddess Iunyt, a consort of the war god Montu. On the left, the king wears the red crown of Lower Egypt and enacts a running ritual, probably in front of Montu. During the Eleventh Dynasty, many of the modest mud-brick Old Kingdom sanctuaries in Upper Egypt were replaced with superbly decorated limestone buildings, including the temple at Armant. This relief shows the sensitive blending of southern Theban features, for example the intricate interior detail, with northern Memphite characteristics, such as the more spacious composition and the lower level of the relief surface.
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