Stela of Neferhotep
Neferhotep’s limestone stela has two registers on the face of its spherical top. In the upper register, Amenhotep I and Queen Ahmose-Nefertari sit on thrones facing an altar with a water pot and a floral bouquet.
The figurines and text are all carved in raised relief. In the lower register, the foreman Neferhotep, son of the foreman Nb-nfr, is depicted bowing to the left, arms lifted in worship. His figure is carved in sunk relief, and the lower register has an engraved supplication to Amenhotep I and Queen Ahmose-Nefertari.
The stela is damaged at the right and bottom margins, causing some loss. There are two gouges in the upper register and surface.
The limestone stela itself measures at 46.5cm tall and 31cm wide, weighing 16kg.
A British Museum curator, where this piece now resides, writes of the foreman Neferhotep, “The career of the foreman Neferhotep, son of Nebnufer and owner of Tomb 216 at Deir el-Medina, is well documented. He succeeded his father as foreman about Year 38 of Ramses II and is last attested in Year 1 of Sety II. By Year 5 of Sety II he had been replaced by Paneb. He apparently died a violent death in some civil disturbance.”
British Museum. EA1516
A century or so after their deaths, both Amenhotep I and his mother Ahmose Nefertari became deified and were the subjects of a cult of recognition and worship within the Deir el-Medina and Theban region for approximately 400 years. Their image therefore appears in numerous stelae and tombs, despite not being the rulers of the period in which such likenesses were made.
The reason for their deified status and worship is not really known, however, it is thought it perhaps was due to Amenhotep I’s empathy and therefore help for the workers within the famous workers village of Deir el-Medina, where the cult of dedication towards the pair was heavily followed for centuries.
Read more about the deification of Ahmose Nefertari here: https://egypt-museum.com/ahmose-nefertari-the-deified-queen-of-egypt/
Summary:
Stela of the foreman Neferhotep, son of Nebnuferhe
New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, c. 1203 B.C.
Detail of the stela of Neferhotep, discovered in Thebes.
British Museum. EA1516
