Some Monuments of the Old Kingdom

About this book

The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, possesses a substantial collection of reliefs and other objects of Old Kingdom date. These are little published and largely unknown to the Egyptological community. The present volume incoporates the reliefs, false doors, lintels, and drum rolls from seven different Old Kingdom tombs deriving from the sites of Giza and Saqqara. In date they range from the 4th to 6th Dynasties. Other monuments from the same tombs in museums in the United States and Europe are assembled here. Taken as a whole, the Field Museum objects are revealing of the socio-economic status of their owners, who include both high-ranking officials and others of a more modest rank, and disclose something of their religious beliefs and moral tenets as well. They also attest to the active antiquities trade of the late 19th century.