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Fragment of an “Amarna Letter”
This representation of a woman, carved of elephant ivory, was originally part of a piece of furniture such as a chair or bed. It is one of the “Megiddo ivories,” a hoard of carved pieces of ivory found in the palace of the Egyptian New Kingdom governor of Megiddo, a regional Canaanite center.
The ivories were carved in styles from many regions of the eastern Mediterranean: Greece, Cyprus, Anatolia, Egypt, and from Canaan itself. This representation is in the Canaanite style and shows a local woman with locally distinctive dress and hairstyle.
Name: Fragment of an “Amarna Letter”
Material: Clay
Size:
Height: 6.8 cm (2.7 in)
Width: 5.6 cm (2.2 in)
Depth: 2.3 cm (0.9 in)
Date: 1350-1340 BCE
Place of Origin: Tell el-Amarna, Egypt
Location: Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago, Illinois
Source and Registration#:
Oriental Institute Museum 9356
Geoff Emberling
Former Chief Curator, Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago
