EGYPTIAN ART

The oxyrhynchus fish was sacred to the goddess Hathor, and is usually shown wearing her crown of cow's horns and sun disk on its head, an image that may have reproduced an actual temple cult statue. Sometimes, as here, a kneeling figure of the donor was included.

"Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids" is the first major, comprehensive exhibition of Old Kingdom art. It includes approximately 250 objects from more than thirty museums in Egypt, Europe, and North America; forty-one are presented in this Web feature. Read more about the Old Kingdom, ca. 2650–ca. 2150 B.C., in the introduction or explore the individual works by selecting one of the following themes:   The pyramid complexes of the Fourth to Sixth Dynasty included not only the pyramids themselves but also the temples and causeways attached to them. These complexes were the architectural and artistic focus of the Old Kingdom. Erected at Saqqara, Dahshur, Abusir, and Giza as the burial places of kings and many queens, they were also the nuclei of sprawling cemeteries that included the tombs of contemporary high officials. Their importance in religious life inspired reliefs and sculptures of monumental character, such as those shown here. Models of the Pyramid Complex of King Sahure at Abusir Relief Block with Deities and Fecundity Figures King Khufu's Cattle Group of Archers Starving Bedouin   King Khafre Seated King Menkaure and a Queen Triad of Menkaure Sahure and Nome God         New Amu   Abu Simbel     Old Mastaba

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