Lintel of Enseperi (2454–2311 BCE): Art, History and Details

Lintel of Enseperi (2454–2311 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Carved in raised relief, the inscription on this lintel is arranged in vertical columns, with the signs facing right. The tomb owner and his wife, labeled above as "the king's acquaintance, Neferiuhathor(?)" are seated together at the far left on a long chair or couch with bull's legs and a cushion but no back rest.

Object facts

• Title: Lintel of Enseperi
• Date: 2454–2311 BCE
• Culture: Egypt, Giza, western cemetery, excavations of Montague Ballard, 1901–2, Old Kingdom (2647–2124 BCE), Dynasty 5
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: limestone
• Dimensions: Overall: 29.5 cm (11 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Egypt - Old Kingdom
• Department: Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Accession number: 1920.1993

A detail from the museum

Neferiuhathor appears to place her left hand on Endeperi's shoulder but the chair overlapping her legs shows that she is seated at his left.

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

• Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.