Fragment of a Leather Hanging() with an Erotic Scene ca. 1550-1458 B.C. New Kingdom This fragment of painted leather was found in debris during the clearance of a Middle Kingdom tomb some two hundred yards east of Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahri. No other New Kingdom material was found in this tomb, but the hairstyle of the harpist, her clothing and jewelry, and her willowy, long-waisted figure date the piece to early Dynasty 18.The erotic nature of the scene, with its naked male dancer, suggests that this piece was inteneded for the shrine of the goddess Hathor at Deir el-Bahri. In her aspect as a fertility goddess, Hathor was associated with Bes, a fertility god who was depicted as part human, part lion. The nude figure may be either a priest or a mummer who would have worn a mask and played the part of Bes at a festival honoring the goddess. The dancer and the partially preserved man in the register above both carry an object with multiple brown strands. These have been descri