FISHING WITH NETS

Identity:       Meketre, Chancellor
Material:     Painted Wood
Period:        Middle Kingdom, 11th Dynasty  
Reign:         Unknown

Dimensions:
Height:      31.5 cm
Length:      90 cm
Width:       62 cm

The chancellor Meketre was working under kings of the late Eleventh and the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty. These wooden models found in his tomb imitate scenes from his mundane world in miniature so that they could serve him in his afterlife. It is a rare glimpse of ancient Egyptian social life. Meketre's fishermen are standing on two papyrus barks and empty the net on the barks manipulated by squatting oarsmen. They are about to pull the net from the water.