Mitry (formerly spelt “Merti”) was a senior official and province governor. His tomb’s serdab (statue chamber) contained eleven extraordinarily huge wooden statues. Five are in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection (26.2.2 – 26.2.6); five, including two wooden scribes, are in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo; and one is at Stockholm’s Medlhavsmuseet.

Most of these monuments depict Mitry in various stages of his life and career, as indicated by changes in wigs and clothing. Surprisingly, three statues of ladies were present, each wearing a different wig. Mitry holds a staff and a Sekhem sceptre.

The Sekhem sceptre, a ritual sceptre in Ancient Egypt. As a symbol of authority, it is frequently used in names and words linked with power and control. The Sekhem sceptre (symbolising “the powerful”) is related to the kherp (ḫrp) sceptre (symbolising “the controller”) and the aba sceptre (symbolising “the commander”), which all symbolise the same hieroglyphic symbol. The sceptres resembled a flat paddle with a papyrus umbel grip. Its symbolic purpose may have started in Abydos as an Osiris fetish. The shape of the sceptre could have come from professional tools.

Mitry’s hair short and curly, he wears a kilt (shendyt) with a projecting front panel.

Summary:

Wooden statue of the Official Mitry
Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, reign of Isesi–Unis, c. 2381–2323 B.C.
From Saqqara, Tomb of Mitry.
Excavated by the Egyptian Antiquities Service.
Purchased by the Museum from the Egyptian Government, 1926.
Now at the Met Museum, NYC. 26.2.4