Tomb Wall Fragment Depicting Donkeys

Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5 (about 2504–2347 BCE)

Egyptian

This fragment is part of a scene of donkeys being driven over grain to separate wheat from chaff- one that was used in many Egyptian tombs. The tomb’s owner selected the decoration for his or her tomb chamber from a selection of established themes, much as one might select wallpaper today.

Status: On View, Gallery 50
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Tomb Wall Fragment Depicting Donkeys
Place: Egypt (Object made in)
Date: 2504 BCE–2347 BCE
Medium: Limestone and pigment
Dimensions: 28 × 21 × 9.5 cm (11 × 8 1/4 × 3 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: W. Moses Willner Fund
Reference Number: 1910.234
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/64334/manifest.json

Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture, Paintings and Drawings. Part I. Architecture and Sculpture (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1920), pl. 5 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, Thirty-second Annual Report: June 1, 1910–June 1, 1911 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1911), pp. 19, 62.
Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1923), pp. 24, 25 (ill.)
Karen B. Alexander “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 38.

Art Institute of Chicago, Life and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, Feb. 11, 2022 - present.

The Art Institute of Chicago, acquired in 1910.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.