Starving Bedouin. Saqqara; Fifth Dynasty, reign of Unis (ca. 2353–2323 B.C.E.). Limestone with faint remains of paint; H. 15 in. (38 cm). Musée du Louvre, Paris (E 17 381).

The unusual hairstyles and fringes of beard indicate that these men are not Egyptians but bedouin living in the eastern desert that borders Egypt. Their emaciated appearance may reflect an actual famine in the desert environment in which they lived, an attack of a wasting disease, or a pointed illustration of the belief that life beyond Egypt's borders was savage and uncivilized.