id:			135657
accession number:	1959.187
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1959.187
updated:		2023-08-25 11:18:38.902000

Talatat: Men Hoeing the Earth, c. 1353–1347 BC. Egypt, Karnak, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep IV, 1353-1337 BC. Painted sandstone; overall: 21.4 x 53.3 cm (8 7/16 x 21 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1959.187

title:				Talatat: Men Hoeing the Earth
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1353–1347 BC
creation date earliest:		-1353
creation date latest:		-1347
current location:		107 Egyptian
creditline:			Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Egypt, Karnak, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep IV, 1353-1337 BC
technique:	painted sandstone
department:	Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
collection:	Egypt - New Kingdom
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 21.4 x 53.3 cm (8 7/16 x 21 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Art from the Age of the Sun King
	opening date:   1973-09-17T04:00:00
	<i>Akhenaten and Nefertiti: Art from the Age of the Sun King</i>. The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (organizer) (September 17-November 25, 1973); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (December 19, 1973-February 28, 1974).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Brooklyn/Detroit 1973-74, no. 41

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PROVENANCE

	Karnak. Purchased from Mrs. Paul Mallon, Paris
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
In the early part of his reign, Amenhotep IV built an enormous temple to the sun disk (Aten) at the east end of the temple of Karnak. To expedite construction, sandstone was quarried in small, regularly sized, easily manageable blocks called talatat. Unlike the huge monoliths typically used in temple construction, talatat could be carried and moved into position by one man. Not all of the temple was built of stone, however. In this block, workmen are shown bent in toil. They once formed part of a panoramic scene depicting the production of mud bricks. The men are involved in the initial stages of this process: hacking up the earth and gathering the raw clay. It is very likely that this talatat represents a distinct historical event, undoubtedly connected with Amenhotep IV’s huge building enterprises at East Karnak.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Cleveland Museum of Art, and Martha L. Carter. <em>Egyptian Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1963.
	page number: 	Mentioned and reproduced: p. 11
	url:		https://archive.org/details/EgyptianArt_80670/page/n11

	Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač.<em> Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 245; Mentioned: p. 245-246
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.187/1959.187_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.187/1959.187_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1959.187/1959.187_full.tif