Artwork
Foreigners, Tomb of Menkheperraseneb

Foreigners, Tomb of Menkheperraseneb is an unspecified painting by the Byzantine icon painting artist Nina M. Davies. It dates from -1478 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Davies reproducing a scene from the mid-eighteenth-Dynasty Theban tomb of Menkheperraseneb (TT 86), the original wall painting dating to about 1478 BCE.
The painting Foreigners, Tomb of Menkheperraseneb is a facsimile by Nina M. Davies reproducing a scene from the mid-eighteenth-Dynasty Theban tomb of Menkheperraseneb (TT 86), the original wall painting dating to about 1478 BCE. It depicts a foreign figure accompanied by a hieroglyphic label, of a type used in Egyptian tombs to represent peoples beyond Egypt's borders. Such depictions of foreigners in New Kingdom tombs symbolized the deceased's sphere of influence and Egypt's relations with neighboring lands, integrating foreign elements into the tomb's decorative program.
History & Provenance
The painted scene titled Foreigners, from the Tomb of Menkheperraseneb (TT 86) at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Luxor, is a modern facsimile created by Nina de Garis Davies. The work reproduces an ancient Egyptian wall painting depicting a Keftiu (Cretan) figure, originally executed during the mid-eighteenth Dynasty. The facsimile was produced circa 1930–1935 as part of Davies's program of copying and publishing tomb decorations, rather than being contemporaneous with the tomb's decoration period.
The facsimile is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it has been accessioned as 30.4.55. Its production was not commissioned by the original tomb owner but arose from Davies's scholarly and artistic project to record and disseminate Egyptian tomb art for wider study.
No exhibition history beyond its accession into the Metropolitan Museum of Art is documented in the available sources.
Context
The depiction of foreigners in the Tomb of Menkheperraseneb (TT 86) is primarily known through the scholarly facsimile work of Nina M. Davies. Created in the early twentieth century, Davies's reproductions of these New Kingdom paintings, whose originals date to approximately 1478 BCE, serve as critical records for understanding the artistic representation of diverse groups such as Asiatics and Keftiu within Egyptian tombs. These works are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they function as study materials for art historians analyzing the visual culture of the eighteenth Dynasty.
The facsimiles preserve details of the original tomb decoration that might otherwise be lost, allowing researchers to examine the stylistic conventions used to depict non-Egyptian peoples.
Overview
The painting titled "Foreigners, Tomb of Menkheperraseneb" is a 1925 work by Egyptologist Nina M. Davies. It meticulously reproduces a wall scene from an ancient Egyptian tomb, originally created around 1478 BCE. Davies's work serves as a detailed record of this historical artifact, featuring both figural representations and hieroglyphic inscriptions, and is now preserved within the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Technique & Style
Nina M. Davies's 1925 painting faithfully captures the visual characteristics of the ancient Egyptian original. The underlying tomb painting, dating from approximately 1478 BCE, exemplifies the artistic conventions of its era. It employs bold outlines and a palette of vibrant colors to create distinct forms and symbolic representations. This approach is characteristic of ancient Egyptian wall art, prioritizing clarity and narrative over naturalistic depth.
Artist & collection
Artist
The Egyptologists Nina M. Davies (6 January 1881 – 21 April 1965) and Norman de Garis Davies (1865–5 November 1941) were a married couple of illustrators and copyists who worked in the early and mid-twentieth century…














