Of gods and (wo)men: Two wooden figurines from Sheikh Abd el-Qurna

Abstract

This article discusses two wooden figurines discovered by an expedition of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, in tomb MMA 1152 in the area of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Theban necropolis. Both objects can be dated to the Dynastic phase of occupation of the site. However, in the first centuries AD, the complex was transformed into a Coptic hermitage, resulting in the decontextualization of the vast majority of Pharaonic artifacts from the tomb and its neighborhood and making the interpretation of the statuettes less straightforward than it could be assumed.

Keywords

• Theban necropolis
• tomb
• figurine
• nudity