Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Statue Head of a Nomarch, Possibly Ibu
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.
During the early Twelfth Dynasty, provincial nomarchs (governors) continued to exercise a great deal of independence, as they had before the political unification of the Middle Kingdom. They headed the regional administration and were high priests of local deities. Ibu ruled the tenth Upper Egyptian nome (province), south of Asyut, today still a very fertile area. His position and wealth enabled him to build one of three astounding templelike tombs at Qaw el-Kebir.
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