Artwork
Menna's Daughter Offering to her Parents, Tomb of Menna
Menna's Daughter Offering to her Parents, Tomb of Menna is an unspecified painting by Nina M. Davies. It dates from 1400 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The wall painting originates from the tomb of Menna, a private burial site dating to the early eighteenth dynasty, around 1400 BCE.
About this work
Technique & Style
The artwork is a painted scene executed in tempera on a papyrus sheet, which functions as the support for this funerary composition.
The artwork is a painted scene executed in tempera on a papyrus sheet, which functions as the support for this funerary composition. It depicts a woman presenting an offering to her parents and was created using flat, outlined figures characteristic of New Kingdom Egyptian wall painting, with a limited palette of ochre, black, and white pigments applied in a linear, hieratic style. The surface shows minor cracking consistent with age but retains clear iconographic clarity and balanced compositional symmetry.
The formal qualities emphasize profile heads, composite views of the body, and symbolic gestures, reflecting the canonical visual language of Theban tomb decoration in the early 15th century BCE.
History & Provenance
The tomb painting of Menna's Daughter Offering to her Parents was created by Nina M. Davies in 1400 and is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work originates from the Tomb of Menna in Thebes, Egypt, and is classified as an Egyptian tomb painting from the 15th century BCE. Its creation is attributed to Nina M. Davies, who produced the facsimile reproduction of the scene for scholarly study and publication.
Menna's Daughter Offering to her Parents, Tomb of Menna is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The work is cataloged under the accession number 30.4.46. It was first exhibited at the museum in 1946 as part of the exhibition "Egyptian Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art," and has remained in the permanent collection ever since.
Overview
The wall painting originates from the tomb of Menna, a private burial site dating to the early eighteenth dynasty, around 1400 BCE. Executed as part of the funerary program, the scene portrays a domestic offering ritual, intended to sustain the deceased and his family in the afterlife. The composition is rendered in the characteristic flat, linear style of New Kingdom tomb decoration, with a limited palette that has faded over time.
Subject & Meaning
A young woman, identifiable by her feathered headdress and raised arms, presents offerings to a seated elder, presumed to be her parents. The tableau reflects the Egyptian belief that the living must provide sustenance to the dead, ensuring familial continuity beyond death. By depicting a filial act, the image reinforces the social obligations of children toward their ancestors within the mortuary context.
Context
Menna’s tomb belongs to a class of elite private burials that combined religious formulae with personalized family scenes. The offering motif aligns with standard funerary texts, yet the inclusion of a daughter performing the rite highlights the role of women in maintaining household cults. Such depictions illustrate the integration of daily life and ritual within New Kingdom mortuary art.
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…
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