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Women at a Banquet

Twentieth Century; original New Kingdom
A.D. 1922; original ca. 1400–1390 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 135
This detail of a banquet scene shows a female guest offering another guest a yellow mandrake fruit, which the ancient Egyptians associated with love and sexuality. The fruit has a pleasing smell when ripe, while the mandrake plant itself has hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac effects but is toxic. Several lotus flowers are also depicted. Each headband features a lotus bud, and two guests hold a lotus flower; one is open (though partially destroyed), and another is closed. The lotus flower, which also has a pleasing scent, was a symbol for regeneration and rebirth because its petals open and close every day. Additionally, the Nymphaea species of lotus has narcotic properties and may have been used to achieve an altered state.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Women at a Banquet
  • Artist: Nina de Garis Davies (1881–1965)
  • Period: Twentieth Century; original New Kingdom
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 18
  • Reign: probably reign of Thutmose IV
  • Date: A.D. 1922; original ca. 1400–1390 B.C.
  • Geography: Original from Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Tomb of Nebseny (TT 108), MMA Graphic Section, 1922
  • Medium: Tempera on paper
  • Dimensions: facsimile: h. 29.5 cm (11 5/8 in); w. 58 cm (22 13/16 in), scale 1:1; framed: h. 33 cm ( 13 in); w. 61 cm (24 in)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1930
  • Object Number: 30.4.92
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Moving a Stone Block, Tomb of Rekhmire, Nina de Garis Davies, Paper, tempera paint, ink
Moving a Stone Block, Tomb of Rekhmire
Nina de Garis Davies
ca. 1504–1425 B.C.
Stone Cutters Measuring a Block, Tomb of Rekhmire, Nina de Garis Davies, Paper, tempera paint, ink
Stone Cutters Measuring a Block, Tomb of Rekhmire
Nina de Garis Davies
ca. 1504–1425 B.C.
Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rekhmire, Nina de Garis Davies, Tempera on Paper
Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rekhmire
Nina de Garis Davies
ca. 1479–1425 B.C.
Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rekhmire, Nina de Garis Davies, Paper, tempera paint, ink
Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rekhmire
Nina de Garis Davies
ca. 1504–1425 B.C.
Casting Metal, Tomb of Rekhmire, Nina de Garis Davies, Tempera on paper
Casting Metal, Tomb of Rekhmire
Nina de Garis Davies
ca. 1479–1400 B.C.

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