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Ripe barley

New Kingdom, Amarna Period
ca. 1347–1330 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 121
Beginning in the Old Kingdom, the harvest of grain is a typical motif in private tombs. Although temple scenes showing the pharaoh ritually cutting stalks of grain, usually held by a priest, are known from other periods, fields of the living plant are unknown in royal or temple architecture except during the Amarna Period, when representations of wild animals and living plants were common in both palaces and temples. This fragment gives no clue as to its original context. The ears of barley are lifesize and have been very naturalistically carved so that they seem to bend in a gentle breeze coming from the left. The scale and the superb quality of the relief suggests that the block formed part of a prominent scene, perhaps filling a role similar to that of the wild animals greeting the sunrise (1985.328.21)

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ripe barley
  • Period: New Kingdom, Amarna Period
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 18
  • Reign: reign of Akhenaten
  • Date: ca. 1347–1330 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt; Probably from Middle Egypt, Hermopolis (Ashmunein; Khemenu); Probably originally from Amarna (Akhetaten)
  • Medium: Limestone, paint
  • Dimensions: H. 23 cm (9 1/16 in); W. 52 cm (20 1/2 in); Th. approx. 4 cm.
  • Credit Line: Gift of Norbert Schimmel, 1985
  • Object Number: 1985.328.24
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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