Picture of the Day

Leopard of Tuthmosis III

JE 32248 (CG 24912) Cairo Antiquity Museum

Material: Wood, covered with bitumen
Size: Height 25 cm; Lenth 75 cm; Depth 12 cm
Location: Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Tuthmosis III (KV34)
Excavation: Loret excavations of 1898
Period: 18th Dynasty, reign of Tuthmosis III (1479-1425)

A beautiful rendition of a moving leopard, with unspotted skin and thus black. Evidenced by two rectangular mortises for the insertion of tenons on the animal's back, he did not stand along, but was rather a part of a group composition. This is one of two striding leopards from the tomb of Tuthmosis III (KV34) in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of Thebes (modern Luxor). At one time, each leopard carried on its back a striding figure of the king, also in gilded wood.

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