These figures represent Yuny seated next to his wife Renenutet. Yuny, who lived in the city of Asyut, was a chief royal scribe and holder of many other offices, perhaps including that of physician. Additional inscriptions on the base of the statue further elaborate Yuny's responsibilities. On the center fold of Yuny's pleated skirt is an inscription that reads: "May everything that comes forth upon the offering table of [the god] . . . and all pure food that comes forth from the Great Enclosure [the temple complex at Heliopolis] be for the chief scribe, royal scribe of letters, Yuny, justified."
Renenutet affectionately places her right arm around her husband's shoulders. On the back of the statue she is described as a singer of Amun-Re. In her left hand, she holds by its metal counterweight a heavy bead necklace called a menat. Menat necklaces were ritual implements that were held in the hands and shaken like cymbals, especially in the service of the goddess Hathor, but also when entering the presence of other deities..
Appropriate to their high secular and religious positions, Yuny and Renenutet wear the elaborate wigs and fine linen attire fashionable in their time. Renenutet is adorned with a lotus fillet and a necklace called a broad collar. The beads are in the shape of nefer hieroglyphs (meaning "good" or "beautiful"), offering vases, and floral petals. Traces of black remain on the wigs. The couple sit together on a bench with elegantly carved lion-paw feet.
On the back of the chair in both sunken and raised relief are two scenes illustrating the ancient Egyptian ideal of affection and remembrance among family generations. In the upper register, Yuny and Renenutet receive offerings from their son; in the lower, Renenutet offers food and drink to her parents.
Another statue depicting Yuny by himself is on display in gallery 130.
Dimensions:H. 84.5 × W. 54.5 × D. 73 cm (33 1/4 × 21 7/16 × 28 3/4 in.)
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1915
Object Number:15.2.1
Base
Hereditary noble, high official, sealbearer of the King of Lower Egypt, sole companion, judge, nome administrator, mouth of the king in both lands, important in his office and great in his nobility, official at the head of the subjects, (2) whom the king made great in all the land, who fills the ears of Horus with what is right, who makes peace by all he says, whose heart is a plumb-bob that does not waver: true king’s scribe whom he loves, setem-priest (3) of the king, chief of secrets in the House of the Netherworld, royal scribe, chief lector priest, overseer of the priests of Sakhmet, steward and keeper of stores of the Lord of the Two Lands, scribe of letters of the Good God, Yuny, begotten of the judge and chief physician, Amen-hotep, justified.
Inscription down kilt
May everything that comes forth on the offering-table of Atum, lord of the Two Lands, the Heliopolitan, and all pure food-offerings that come forth in the Great Enclosure (of Heliopolis) be for the chief royal scribe, royal scribe of letters, Yuny, justified.
Right side
Greatly blessed of the Good God, beloved one of the Lord of the Two Lands, who has access to his god at the time of worshipping his images, setem-priest of the king, true king’s scribe whom he loves, chief lector priest, overseer of the priests of Sakhmet of the Lord of the Two Lands, royal scribe of letters, Yuny, justified.
Left side
His wife and beloved of his affection, blessed of the lady of the sky, graceful in all eyes, great one of the women’s company of Hathor lady of Durunka, Renenutet, justified, possessor of reverence.
Back, upper register, right
(1) Doing libation and censing (2) for the chief royal scribe Yuny, (3) by [ ... ].
Back, upper register, left
(1) Greatly blessed of the Lord of the Two Lands, (2) beloved of His Incarnation (3) every day, judge and nome administrator, (4) who approaches the King of Upper Egypt and draws near (5) the King of Lower Egypt, royal scribe, chief lector priest, overseer (6) of the priests of Sakhmet, steward and (7) keeper of stores, royal scribe of letters, (8) Yuny, justified. (9) His wife, housemistress Renenutet, justified.
Back, lower register, right
(1) Greatly blessed of the Lord of the Two Lands, true king’s acquaintance (2) whom he loves, royal scribe, keeper of stores, (3–4) Metiay, justified. (5) His wife, (6) housemistress (7–8) Yia, justified.
Back, lower register, left
(1) Dedicated by his daughter, (2) housemistress and (3) chantress of (4) Amon-Re, (5) Renenutet, justified. (6) Her servant, (7–8) Hathor.
James P. Allen 2007
Asyut, Khashaba excavations, 1913. Ceded to Sayyid Pasha Khashaba in the division of finds. Purchased by the Museum from Khashaba, 1915.
Winlock, Herbert E. 1919. "The Statue of Iny and Rennut." In The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 32-35.
Williams, Caroline Ransom 1930. "Two Egyptian Torsos from the Main Temple of the Sun at El ʿAmarneh." In Metropolitan Museum Studies, 3/1, p. 92, footnote 67.
Winlock, Herbert E. 1935. Private Life of the Ancient Egyptians. New York, fig. 10.
Scott, Nora E. 1944. Home Life of the Ancient Egyptians: A Picture Book. New York: Plantin Press, fig. 2.
Scott, Nora E. 1945. Egyptian Statues. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, fig. 22.
Vandier, Jacques 1958. Manuel d'archéologie égyptienne: Les grandes époques: La statuaire, 3. Paris, 442, 486-7, 491, 498, 500.
Hayes, William C. 1959. Scepter of Egypt II: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Hyksos Period and the New Kingdom (1675-1080 B.C.). Cambridge, Mass.: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 353, fig. 220.
Aldred, Cyril 1980. Egyptian Art in the Days of the Pharaohs, 3100-320 BC, World of Art, New York: Oxford University Press, p. 196, no. 161.
Capel, Anne K., Glenn E. Markoe, and Donald Spanel 1996. Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt. New York: Hudson Hills Press, pp. 172–74, no. 93 (AKC).
Roehrig, Catharine H. 1996. "Women's work: Some occupations of non-royal women as depicted in ancient Egyptian art." In Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt, edited by Anne K. Capel and Glenn E. Markoe. New York: Hudson Hills Press, pp. 13–15, 18.
1999. Gold of Praise: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F. Wente, 57. Chicago: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures West Asia & North Africa of the University of Chicago, Pp. 229.
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