Nectanebo I depicted upon Black Siltstone found in el-Rashid, Alexandria

This rectangular slab of black siltstone, dating to the reign of Nectanebo I (c. 380–362 B.C.), once formed part of a temple’s architectural adornment. It is sculpted in sunk relief on both faces, though one side survives in better condition. The decoration consists of offering scenes surmounted by a dado of niche patterns and crowned by a cavetto cornice. Atop the cornice on the better-preserved face, traces remain of a row of falcons, now reduced to their legs and feet. The reverse side likely once bore a frieze of upright cobras, though it has suffered considerably over time.

On the damaged face, remnants of two offering scenes can be discerned. In one, a zoomorphic deity faces right as the king kneels in a semi-prostrate gesture of devotion, one leg extended behind him – a traditional pose in royal ritual iconography. Another god stands at the far right. While the figures themselves were visibly defaced (perhaps deliberately) the hieroglyphic inscriptions, which clearly name Nectanebo I, were left untouched. The cornice was later trimmed flat, presumably to facilitate the stone’s reuse in antiquity.

The opposite face presents a more intact scene, showing the king kneeling to offer a tall loaf of bread. His body is rendered in a style echoing the late Twenty-sixth Dynasty, with sharply modelled chest, ribcage, and rounded stomach, though the hand; with long, sinuous fingers, are emblematic of Thirtieth Dynasty art. Most striking is the king’s head, adorned with a rare, close-fitting cap and a uraeus. The face is highly distinctive, jowled and aquiline-nosed, with a pronounced eye socket, fine nostrils, and a faint double chin – features that suggest a true portrait likeness. Similar facial characteristics appear on two other architectural reliefs bearing the king’s name, reinforcing this interpretation. Two ancient drill holes pierce the stone, further testifying to its long and varied life.

The British Museum states that this siltstone architectural slab is one of five known examples believed to originate from a single monumental structure, most likely situated at Heliopolis.

Though all five slabs were removed from their original context in antiquity, inscriptions across them hint at a shared provenance. Uniform in size and architectural detail, and depicting highly similar figural scenes, these reliefs are thought to have once formed part of a continuous decorative scheme. While they are frequently described as intercolumnar slabs, that is, low screen walls placed between large temple columns, this classification is likely inaccurate, as such barriers were typically carved from a single stone.

The presence of scenes that spill across adjoining blocks, including one partially preserved on the damaged side of this very slab, instead supports the idea that these reliefs were components of a long, low ceremonial barrier, possibly erected at the temple entrance in Heliopolis. These pieces have been frequently illustrated in scholarship, though the term intercolumnar remains a common misnomer.

Nectanebo I

Nectanebo I, who reigned from approximately 380-362 B.C., was the founder of Egypt’s final native dynasty (30th Dynasty), ushering in a brief, but culturally resurgent era amid a world increasingly dominated by foreign powers.

A military man of Sebennytos in the Nile Delta, Nectanebo seized the throne during a time of internal strife and Persian encroachment, establishing himself as both a devout patron of the gods and a capable defender of Egyptian autonomy. His reign was marked by an ambitious revival of temple construction, particularly in sacred centres such as Philae, Karnak, and Heliopolis, where he left behind elegant inscriptions and sculptural reliefs that echo the grandeur of earlier dynasties. With religious orthodoxy and traditional artistic forms consciously restored, Nectanebo sought not only to legitimise his rule but to reassert Egypt’s cultural identity against the rising tide of Persian influence.

The 30th Dynasty, comprising Nectanebo I, his son Teos, and his grandson Nectanebo II, stands as the last breath of native Egyptian sovereignty. Although it lasted scarcely more than three decades, it was a period of remarkable artistic refinement and nationalistic fervour. Nectanebo II, the final pharaoh of this dynasty and indeed the last Egyptian-born ruler of Ancient Egypt, would ultimately fall to the renewed Persian invasion under Artaxerxes III.

Thus ended millennia of native rule, as Egypt passed irrevocably into the hands of foreign empires, first Persian, then Macedonian, and finally Roman. Yet the legacy of Nectanebo I endures in stone and script, a poignant reminder of Egypt’s final, defiant flourish before its long twilight.