Seneb

Seneb
Seneb (left) with his wife Senetites (right) and their children (below)
Material	Painted limestone
Size	H. 22 cm (8.7 in); W. 22.5 cm (8.9 in); L. 25 cm (9.8 in)
Writing	Egyptian hieroglyphs
Created	c. 2520 BC
Discovered	Tomb of Seneb (G 1036), West Field of the Giza Necropolis
Present location	Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Identification	JE 51280[1]

Seneb in hieroglyphs
Era: Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC)

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.

Seneb is depicted with his wife and children in a painted sculpture from his tomb, rediscovered in 1926, that is a famous example of Old Kingdom art.^[2] It shows him sitting cross-legged on a block of stone with his wife embracing him and his children standing below him where the legs of a full-size person would ordinarily have been. The composition of the scene thus achieves a harmonious symmetry. It depicts Seneb realistically with the facial features and shortened limbs of an individual with achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism. Paintings and carvings in the tomb give his titles and depict various scenes from his life, such as carrying out inspections of his estate and holding symbols of his office.