Relief Depicting Personified Estates from the Tomb of Akhtihotep

Like the corner blocks from the same tomb (58.123), these reliefs are from the tomb of Akhtihotep. Here, figures carrying baskets of offerings on top of their heads personify the agricultural estates or farms that were to provision the ongoing funerary rites of the deceased.

Very high relief contoured by deep straight edges is found in the late Third and early Fourth Dynasties. The lack of modeling and the serene, nonindividualized faces especially accord with the taste of the early Fourth Dynasty. Shadows created by the high relief combine with the absence of modeling to magnify the size of Akhtihotep's figures.