"Servant" Statue
Limestone, pigment
Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, ca. 2477 B.C.
Giza
Purchased in Cairo, 1920
OIM 10628

This sculpture shows a potter using a hand-turned wheel to produce the clay pots that were so necessary for cooking, eating, drinking, and storage in ancient Egypt. So much pottery was used that pot sherds are the most common artifacts found by archaeologists.

The potter played a key role in ancient Egyptian society, but he lived at the bottom of the social order. The arduousness of his work, which involved hauling clay from the Nile and exposure to river parasites, is shown by the way his ribs stand out and his gaunt look. To quote an ancient Egyptian text from around 2000 B.C., "The potter is under the soil, though as yet among the living; He grubs in the mud more than a pig, in order to fire his pots…If air enters his nose, it comes straight from the fire."

This statue was placed in the tomb of a wealthy family to ensure that they would have pottery to use forever in the afterlife. Other "servant" statues from tombs are shown performing such tasks as bread-making, beer-brewing, butchering, and even music-making, giving us a wealth of information about daily life in ancient Egypt.