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Description. This round-topped
stela, carved in sunk relief, is composed of three major sections: four
lines of hieroglyphs at the top, two figures standing before a table piled
high with offerings in the center, and two lines of hieroglyphs at the
bottom. Painted reddish brown, the deceased male, Seankhy, holds the aba-scepter,
a common ceremonial object symbolizing authority (Scepter I 287).
He wears a short, triangular kilt, white sandals, a blue broad-collar
necklace, and a bracelet. His short wig exposes an ear whose lobe resembles
a pendant earring. Ankhu, depicted with her left hand on her husband’s
left shoulder, wears a close-fitting tunic with narrow shoulder straps,
a long, full-bottomed wig, and a bead collar.
The
offering table corresponds to the two large-scale figures in size and
importance. Food for the deceased ensured survival in the next world.
The symbol of perpetual food offering, the haunch of an ox (Bourriau 50),
appears with various kinds of bread, a crane, and a sheaf of vegetable
stalks. Small globular jars with long necks and conical lids, probably
containing beer and wine (Freed 221), stand under the table.
Hieroglyphs. The four
lines of hieroglyphs at the top, read from our right to left, list who
will share in the offerings depicted (Bourriau 22). This inscription is
a prayer for funerary offerings addressed to Osiris, god of the Dead,
and Anubis, a canine-headed god who guards cemeteries and oversees mummification.
It reads: “Osiris, Chief of the Westerners [the dead], the great
god, lord of Abydos, and Anubis who is on his mountain, the lord of the
holy land, and in the place of embalmment, that they may give a mortuary
offering of bread and beer, 1,000 oxen, 1,000 fowls, 1,000 pieces of linen
[garments] for the ka [vital life force] of the honored one, Seankhy,
the justified, whose beloved wife, Ankhu, is the priestess of Hathor.”
The
dedicatory inscription at the bottom reads: “[Given] by his beloved
brother, the Prince, Count, Sealer of Lower Egypt, Sole Companion, Overseer
of the Black Cattle, the Overseer of Priests, Nakhte, the justified.”
“Justified” here signifies one whom the gods have judged as
morally good and worthy of resurrection in the afterlife.
Style and dating. The
figures’ faces recall those portrayed throughout the reigns of Sesostris
I (about 1919-1875 B.C.) and Amenemhet II (about 1876-1842 B.C.): aquiline
noses with nostrils carved out; slanting, almond-shaped eyes with cosmetic
lines running parallel to the long lines of their brows; straight and
full lips defined by ridges outlining the mouths and deep notches at the
corners; and distinct ball chins (Bourriau 22; Freed 201, 221).
Other
characteristics help verify the date. Sunk relief was rarely employed
during the reign of Amenemhet I (about 1938-1909 B.C.), but appeared more
frequently during the reign of his successor, Sesostris I (Freed 213).
The general shape of the stela, the figures’ elongated limbs, their
exaggerated ear lobes, the bulging skull of the man, Ankhu’s dress,
the splayed legs of the table, the shapes of the jars, and the use of
the number 1,000 in the funerary offering point to a 12th Dynasty date
(Bourriau 48; Freed 220-1).
Provenance. This stela
is probably from Abydos, the most popular pilgrimage site for religious
festivals during the Middle Kingdom (Bourriau 40). At this time, stelae
were available to more people than ever before. Thousands erected memorial
stelae at Abydos to ensure their close association with Osiris and their
family’s continued existence in the afterlife. Whether freestanding
or set in the walls of chapels, stelae were accessible, enabling people
to place offerings in front of them to honor the dead (Baines and Malek
62). Stelae were situated in offering chapels of various shapes and sizes
that were located on intersecting streets. Although
many powerful rulers, middle-ranking officials, and local people were
buried at Abydos, many who set up stelae were not, and nothing suggests
Seankhy was necessarily buried there.
Published: Handbook
1933, 114, 116; Warner Langdon, Art News 32 (December 9, 1933),
56; Rita Freed, The Development of Middle Kingdom Egyptian Relief
Sculptural Schools of Late Dynasty XI with an Appendix on the Trends of
Early Dynasty XII (2040-1878 B.C.) (diss. New York University, 1984.
Ann Arbor: UMI, 1985), 279.
Other cited sources:
John Baines and Jaromir Malek (eds.), Atlas of Ancient Egypt (New
York: Facts on File, 1980); Janine Bourriau, Pharaohs and Mortals:
Egyptian Art in the Middle Kingdom (New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1988); Scepter
I.
(EAM)
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