The Relief of Nebsen in Brussels (RMAH E.05263): Reconstruction of its Archaeological and Historical Context

This paper attempts to reconstruct the archaeological and historical context of the relief of Nebsen (MRAH E.05263) through close study of this isolated museum artefact by means of epigraphic, prosopographic and iconographic analysis, and through archival research into the documentation of its 1908 excavator John Garstang. It appears that the relief is a door lintel, originally belonging to a tomb or chapel located in the northern cemetery at Abydos. The corresponding jambs are currently preserved in Liverpool. Palaeographic and stylistic study situate it in the Second Intermediate Period. It belonged to a high-placed military official and his brother, who may have been affiliated with a local ruler from Abydos in this period of political and military turmoil.