Boat-Building Scene
Description
Object Label: Some boat-building scenes are known from the New and Middle Kingdoms. Nevertheless, this relief finds its best parallels In Old Kingdom works, that is, in works done before circa 2200 B.C. Unlike those earlier compositions, however, this scene is strongly based on curving lines, such as the unusually exaggerated pose of the man swinging an adze. The workmen's faces are related both to Old Kingdom figures and to faces such as those on the Hatshepsut temple relief in this vitrine. Caption: Boat-Building Scene, ca. 664–634 B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 7 5/8 x 10 5/8 in. (19.4 x 27 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 51.14. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06
Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
Depiction of ancient Egyptian laborers working on a boat.
This relief sculpture illustrates a scene of laborers engaged in the construction or maintenance of a boat, showcasing classical Egyptian artistic style. The figures are depicted in dynamic, active poses typical of Old Kingdom representations. The composition's emphasis on muscular activity and movement reflects the importance of labor in ancient society.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 51.14 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3553 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.