Zooarchaeological Observations on the Slaughterhouse of Meketre

Abstract

Among the models recovered by the Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition from the Middle Kingdom tomb of Meketre at Thebes are three that deal with the management and slaughter of cattle. These appear to represent a programmatic illustration of the consecutive stages in beef production. The scenes depicted–-inspection, fattening, and butchery–-resulted in the provision of meat to nourish the soul of the deceased, but they probably also reflect to some extent aspects of real beef cattle husbandry as it was conducted on the estate during his lifetime. Presuming that the models are constructed to scale and are accurate in detail, further analysis from a zooarchaeological perspective furnishes additional information about their potential meaning. Conclusions based upon study of the models are offered only as hypotheses, however, and must be tested against archaeologically recovered fauna from Egypt.