MEDIA INFORMATION

 
 
 
COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.15.2.1
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Sculpture
Creator Nationality:
African; North African; Egyptian
Creator Name-CRT:
Egyptian
Title:
Yuny and his wife, Renenutet
Title Type:
Object name
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
ca. 1290-1270 B.C.E.
Creation Start Date:
-1290
Creation End Date:
-1270
Materials and Techniques:
Limestone
Classification Term:
Statues
Dimensions:
H. 34 in. (86.4 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
15.2.1
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1915
Rights:
Context:

These figures represent Yuny seated next to his wife, Renenutet. Yuny, who lived in the city of Asyut, was a chief royal scribe and holder of many other offices, perhaps including that of physician. Additional inscriptions on the base of the statue further elaborate Yuny's responsibilities. On the center fold of Yuny's pleated skirt is an inscription that reads: 'May everything that comes forth upon the offering table of [the god] . . . and all pure food that comes forth from the Great Enclosure (the temple complex at Heliopolis) be for the chief scribe, royal scribe of letters, Yuny, justified.'

Renenutet affectionately places her right arm around her husband's shoulders. On the back of the statue she is described as a chantress, or temple-ritual singer, of Amun-Re. In her left hand, she holds by its metal counterweight a heavy bead necklace called a menat. Menat necklaces were ritual implements that were held in the hands and shaken like cymbals, especially in the service of the goddess Hathor.

Appropriate to their high secular and religious positions, Yuny and Renenutet wear the elaborate wigs and fine linen attire fashionable in their time. Renenutet is adorned with a lotus fillet and a necklace called a broad collar. The beads are in the shape of nefer hieroglyphs (meaning 'good' or 'beautiful'), offering vases, and floral petals. Traces of black remain on the wigs. The couple sit together on a bench with elegantly carved lion-paw feet.

On the back of the chair in both sunk and raised relief are two scenes illustrating the ancient Egyptian ideal of affection and remembrance among family generations. In the upper register, Yuny and Renenutet receive offerings from their son; in the lower, Renenutet offers food and drink to her parents.

Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.eg15.2.1.R.tif

Yuny and his wife, Renenutet

Yuny and his wife, Renenutet