26th-century BC works

approximately 4,500 years old, constructed in the form of a hollow wooden box with scenes of war and peace represented on each side through elaborately inlaid mosaics

statue depicting a scribe with crossed legs and writing tools ready

Seneb was a high-ranking court official in the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, circa 2520 BC. A dwarf, Seneb was a person of considerable importance and wealth who owned thousands of cattle, held twenty palaces and religious titles and was married to a high-ranking priestess of average size with whom he had three children. His successful career and the lavishness of his burial arrangements are indicative of the acceptance given to dwarfs in ancient Egyptian society, whose texts advocated the acceptance and integration of those with physical disabilities.

granite sphinx in the collections of the Louvre

funerary statue in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

sculpture