Funerary Stela of Amenemhat
Funerary
Stela of Amenemhat
1- This limestone stela belongs to a person named Amenemhat
and his family from the 11th dynasty [1].
2- It is considered a funerary stela because the purpose of its
texts was to provide the deceased with food and drink in the afterlife.
3- The stela of Amenemhat is considered a masterpiece because it is
still preserve the brightness of its colors as if painted yesterday.
4- Looking to scene, the artist succeeded in showing the emotions
of love and tender among the family members represented in:
a- Amenemhat is seating on bench between his father who has a
normal beard and his mother. He is embracing his father by the shoulders while
their other hands are holding each other and their legs are interlaced
together. This refers to their desire that they shall never get separated in
life and death.
b- The mother is holding the shoulders of her son as if providing
him with care and tender.
c- To the right stands the wife of the son who is placing her right
open hand upon her heart as if to express her feelings of love she used to give
to the family.
d- Looking to the faces of the family members, they are calm with
fine smile and from their eyes appear lovely looks.
5- In the middle of the scene is an offering table heaped with
different kinds of offerings to be eaten by the family represented in bread,
green onions, cucumber and leg of ox. Under the table are two loaves of bread.
6- Under the bench in the side of the mother there is a basket with
a mirror. This refers to the origin of the tradition of the ladies who used to
have mirror in their hand bags to check their beauties.
7- The upper part of the stela has horizontal hieroglyphic
inscription representing to provide the Amenemhat and the mother with offering
of bread, beer, ox and geese.
pr-xrw t hnqt kA Abdw n imAxy
Imn-m-hAt n imAxt Iy
“Offerings
consisting of bread, beer, ox and geese to the glorified Amenemhat and to the
glorified Iy”.
From
the middle to the right is written:
imAxy xr Wsir di.f pr-xrw t
hnqt kA Abdw n imAxw
“The
glorified before Osiris. (May) he gives offering consisting of bread, beer, ox
and geese to the glorified”.
8- Before the head of the father is written his name as the
justified Intef.
ImAxy Iintf.
“The
glorified Intef”.
9- Before the head of the standing wife of the son is her name and
title:
imAxt snt.f @py
“the glorified, his sister Hapy”.
Describing
the wife as a sister was a tradition in ancient Egypt to assure that the wife
became a beloved member in the family. In the love poems a women described her
beloved man as a brother while the man called his beloved woman as his sister.
10-
Another opinion suggested that
Hapy was a sister not a wife.
Further
Important Information:
1- “Amenemhat” and his father Intef are traditionally painted in
reddish brown while the color of the two ladies is yellowish.
2- The father and the son have normal hair while wearing collar,
bracelets and kilt.
3- The mother and the daughter are having tripartite hair wig and
are wearing long dress with on strap on their chests. They are also wearing
collar, bracelets and anklets.
4- The two ladies are shown with one breast exposed as sign of
tender and maternity.
***
Thanks and Good Luck ..
D. Hesham Ezz Eldin
Appendix Notes about the Stelae[2]
1-
Stela is a Latin word which derived
from the Greek word (stele). The stela means pillar or vertical tablet.
2-
The ancient Egyptian word for the
stela is “wedj” wD which means tombstone.
3-
The stela is a slab of stone which
bears inscriptions, drawings and relief.
4-
Stelae were used since the First
Dynasty at Abydos where they were placed out side the tomb to mark their
location and to indicate the place of making offerings.
5-
There are many kinds of stelae
according to their uses :
(1)
Royal Stelae:
- They commemorate
the important royal events like the king’s coronation, the royal marriage, the
building projects and the royal decree.
(2)
Individual Stelae:
- They have names
of the persons and the families. They were placed inside the houses.
(3)
Votive Stelae:
- They were
presented by the kings, the high officials and the individuals to the temples
to express their thanks and gratitude to the gods and to gain their blessings.
(4)
Magical Stelae:
- They were placed
in the houses to protect the people against dangerous things.
(5)
Boundary Stelae:
- They were used
to indicate the limits of the fields, the estates and the cities like the city
of Axt-Itn (Tell Al- Amarna) founded by king Akhenaton. He erected 14 boundary
stelae around the city.
(6)
Victory Stelae:
- They commemorate
the successful military campaigns made by the kings and the military leaders.
Example : the victory stela of Merenptah.
(7)
Funerary Stelae:
-
They were placed either before the
tomb or inside it.
-
Their main purpose was to provide
the deceased with offerings of food and drink that would enable him to survive
in the afterlife.
-
Mainly the texts on the funerary
stelae invoked Osiris god of the dead and Anubis god of the necropolis to help
the deceased. Other gods were mentioned like Horus, Isis, Rehorakhty and
Wpwawat.
-
The funerary stelae were also found
on the false door of the Old Kingdom in which the deceased was depicted before
an offering table.
-
The funerary stelae could be called
offering stelae.
6-
Through the different periods, the
stelae have many forms like square, rectangular and Vertical rectangular with
cavetto cornice, vertical rectangular with round top. The round top is called
the lunette because it resembles the lunar aspect of the moon. The lunette used
to depict such figures like the “wedjat” wDAt eye symbol of
protection, the “ankh” anx symbol of life, the “shen” Sn
symbol of eternity and some deities like the winged sun disk Horus of Behdet
and goddess Nut with her two outstretched wings.
- The texts of the stelae depended
on the subject and the function of the stelae as mentioned above; royal,
individual, votive, magical and funerary.
*****
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