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In this so-called “servant statue,” a woman is shown sieving fermented bread from a vat of beer. Such servant statues became common in wealthy Old Kingdom tombs, but this statue, one of a group of 25 figures from the tomb of Nykauinpu showing the preparation of bread, beer, oxen, and fowl as well as music-making, is unusual in being identified as a daughter of the tomb owner.

Woman Grinding Grain

Name: Figure of a Woman Mashing Beer

Material: Limestone, pigment

Size:
Height: 30.5 cm (11.88 in)
Width: 11.7 cm (4.5 in)
Depth: 21.2 cm (8.25 in)

Date: ca. 2477 BCE, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, Tomb of Nykauinpu

Place of Origin: Giza, Egypt

Location: Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago, Illinois

Source, Registration#, and Publication: Oriental Institute Museum, 10635. Teeter, Emily, Treasures from the Collection of the Oriental Institute, Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2003. p. 23

Janet H. Johnson

Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor of Egyptology