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Relief with running troops

Old Kingdom
ca. 2465–2458 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 103
Two lines of running soldiers wear aprons or kilts and carry sticks, bundled staves, and bows. At the end of each row runs a kilted figure, the one in the lower register carrying what appear to be bundled papyri. Remains of vertical rows of zigzag lines at the upper edge of the block indicate that, as was often the case with troop scenes, a nautical scene was associated, perhaps a royal voyage out to the temple of a god or goddess.

Within the overall organization, the arrangement of the soldiers is highly varied and intricate. Such complexity and layering of overlapping elements mark the relief style of the pharaoh Userkaf. The relief carving itself is fairly flat.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Relief with running troops
  • Period: Old Kingdom
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 5
  • Reign: reign of Userkaf
  • Date: ca. 2465–2458 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt, Memphite Region, Lisht North, Pyramid of Amenemhat I, above the entrance to a plunderers' shaft, MMA excavations, 1914
  • Medium: Limestone, paint
  • Dimensions: H. 85 cm (33 7/16 in.); W. 127 cm (50 in.)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1915
  • Object Number: 15.3.1163
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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