Hu
Back to results

Funerary Stela of Nebet-wedjat

Place of production Dendera (?), Egypt
Date late 1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D. (30 B.C. - A.D. 98)
Object type stela
Medium, technique limestone
Dimensions

38.3 x 30.5 x 5.9 cm

Inventory number 51.2152
Collection Egyptian Art
On view This artwork is not on display

The surface of the limestone stela is damaged and eroded in several places. The difference in the quality of the upper and lower part is obvious at first glance. The lunette is decorated with a simplified version of the winged sun disc. The offering scene in the pictorial field is separated from the lunette by the hieroglyphic sign of the sky. The owner of the stela appears on the right side of the scene greeting the seated deities on the other side of the offering table with her hands in a gesture of adoration. For the lack of any label texts, the identity of the deities – holding ankh-signs in their hands – can be only revealed by their iconography: Re-Harakhty, Osiris, Isis and Anubis.
The workmanship of the hieroglyphic text incised on the lower part of the stela in four horizontal lines represents a poorer quality: the signs were applied on the unpolished surface of the stone. The inscription contains a passage from chapter 191 of the Book of the Dead whose central motif is the uniting of the Ba-soul of the deceased with the corpse and the heart thus providing life after death for her. Based on stylistic and textual features the funerary stela can be dated to the early Roman Period and can be associated with Dendara and the local cult of Osiris.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

Recommended exhibitions