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 a Soldier with an Ax
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.
Relief fragments preserved at the site show that the temple of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II at Deir el-Bahri included a major battle scene in which the Egyptians triumphed over Asiatic enemies. It depicted the siege and storming of a fortified town, with Egyptian soldiers scaling the walls by means of a ladder and slain enemies falling from the battlements. The defeated foreigners, including women and children, were then led into captivity. Since there are no surviving inscriptions describing such an historical event, Mentuhotep’s battle scene may instead symbolize the king’s traditional role as the protector of Egypt, rather than an actual confrontation.
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