Heqanakht Account VI

Middle Kingdom
ca. 1961–1917 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 107
Heqanakht was a native of Thebes (present day Luxor) during the early twelfth dynasty. As "ka-servant" of a high official he was responsible for the high official's statue cult and the administration of the land and income that had been endowed to maintain this cult. The letters and accounts written by Heqanakht and one or more scribes on sheets of papyrus were discovered by Museum excavator Herbert E. Winlock in the excavation season of 1921-1922 in the tomb of Meseh, who had a side passage and crypt in the tomb complex of the vizier Ipy, one of the rock cut tombs along the cliff overlooking the temples at Deir el-Bahri. The documents - some still folded, tied and sealed, when found - provide unique insights into the domestic and financial affairs of an average middle class family that lived almost four thousand years ago.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Heqanakht Account VI
  • Period: Middle Kingdom
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 12
  • Reign: reign of Senwosret I
  • Date: ca. 1961–1917 B.C.
  • Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Deir el-Bahri, Tomb of Ipy (TT 315, MMA 516B), Tomb of Meseh, MMA excavations, 1921–22
  • Medium: Papyrus, ink
  • Dimensions: H. 25.8 cm (10 2/16 in.), W. 17 cm (6 11/16 in.)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1922
  • Object Number: 22.3.521
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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