Meketre's Garden

Meketre was an ancient Egyptian noble who served as royal steward starting under King Mentuhotep II of the Middle Kingdom 11th dynasty. Like many ancient Egyptians, Meketre is most famous for his tomb. Most of his tomb had been plundered by the time Herbert Winlock of the Metropolitan Museum of Art visited it in 1920. Winlock still wanted to draw a floor plan of the tomb, so he had his workmen clean out the passageways. In the process, they discovered a side room with 24 amazing models showing scenes in Meketre’s life as a Theban nobleman.

One of those models was of Meketre’s garden. According to the MET’s website, the real model is 84.4 cm long, 42.5 cm wide, and 39.5 cm tall, or 33.25 in. long, 16.75 in. wide, and 15.5 in tall. It shows a private and tranquil courtyard scene. The courtyard a basin in its center, and is lined with sycamore trees on 3 sides. The entire floor of the courtyard is lined with copper, and the basin may have once held real water. The last side features a building entryway into the courtyard. 2 rows of columns support the courtyard roof. Both are designed to look like different forms of bundled papyrus, an aesthetic column design that was clearly favored all the way from domestic scenes to the most monumental temples in Ancient Egypt.

I wanted to replicate this model in LEGO, because I found it fascinating how well it translated into several LEGO themes. One, the garden is surprisingly modular in its design. If more models were to be replicated of Meketre’s business facilities, boats, and other scenes, it becomes possible to rebuild Meketre’s life! In addition, the colors of the model were very interesting. Blue-greens, whites, tans, reds, and yellows are all colors that I tried to replicate into the columns, and the doorway hidden along the back wall of the courtyard. I decided to stick with an olive-green base for the floor of the courtyard. It was fun to make the sycamore trees with many layers of flower branches and orange-brown fruit. I also decided to include an Ancient Egyptian noblewoman dressed in fine white linen, and crowned with a bejeweled wig. I felt it was a pity to not include a figure that also conveyed the beauty of the noble fashion at the time.