The Fragment

I have been saving this photograph for a few weeks. It is from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It was part of the exhibit "The Secrets of Tomb 10A." It is a fragment of a relief of Mentuhotep II, Dynasty 11, reign of Mentuhotep II, 2061-2010 B.C. recovered from a tomb. I was really taken by this piece. It seems more powerful, for some reason, because it is a fragment rather than a whole face. Perhaps it is because it forces me to look more carefully, because there is not much there. If it was a complete portrait, I might have thought "Oh, that's nice" and move on. This piece held me, and I was mindful the whole time, that it is 4000 years old. That fact alone boggles my mind, and causes me to study it even more. It was a moving experience to see just this piece, and this was just one of many pieces in the first room, of a multi-room exhibit.