Fragment of an Inscribed Architrave, Tomb of Amenemhat Surer

This facsimile painting by Nina M. Davies reproduces an inscribed architrave from the Tomb of Amenemhat Surer in the Theban necropolis. Davies, working for the Metropolitan Museum's Egyptian Expedition in the early twentieth century, created meticulous tempera copies of rapidly deteriorating ancient Egyptian tomb paintings. Though dated here to c. 1390, the original decoration belongs to the New Kingdom (Eighteenth Dynasty), and Davies's copy preserves details now lost to time.

Tempera on paper, executed as an archaeological facsimile reproduction. Davies employed precise color matching and careful observation to faithfully record the hieroglyphic inscriptions and decorative motifs of the ancient original, using the same medium (tempera) as the Egyptian painters.