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Primary sourceArtifactOld Kingdom, c. 2600-2500 BCE

Relief with a Billy Goat from Lisht

Unknown Egyptian sculptor · Old Kingdom, c. 2600-2500 BCE

A limestone relief fragment showing a horned animal, reused at Lisht and likely from an Old Kingdom royal monument possibly linked to Khufu.

A reused relief fragment possibly from a royal monument connected to Khufu's reign.

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Photograph of a pale limestone relief fragment, rough-edged, showing a carved horned animal in profile on the left facing right, with a second animal's body partly visible on the right. Plain grey backdrop.
Relief fragment with a billy goat, Old Kingdom, reused at Lisht. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This limestone relief fragment shows a carved horned animal, part of a larger decorative scene, now broken and worn. It was found reused at Lisht, where later builders recycled stone from earlier royal monuments.

Why it matters

Fragments like this one are thought to come from Old Kingdom royal complexes, possibly including structures connected to Khufu. Even small pieces like this help historians reconstruct what decorated the walls of pyramid temples that no longer survive intact.

Look closer

  • What can you tell about the original scene from just this small piece?
  • Why do you think ancient builders reused stone blocks instead of carving new ones?
  • What is lost when we only have a fragment rather than the whole wall?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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