Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Relief of Clapping Women
Middle Kingdom
Not on view
This object is not part of The Met collection. It was in the Museum for a special exhibition and has been returned to the lender.
This relief fragment depicts a row of clapping women with arms and hands upraised. It probably belonged to a larger scene of a ritual featuring singing or dancing in honor of the goddess Hathor, who was closely connected to these performances. Unusual are the strands of round beads in the women’s hair, which have no exact parallels. Perhaps they were connected with Hathoric rites of the time.
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