Stele

Stele of Amenemhat and his family

This rectangular stele made out of painted limestone shows Amenemhat with his wife, son, and daughter. All the figures are shown seated except his daughter. She stands before an offering table heaped with different kinds of offerings.  The son is depicted seated between his mother and father. Beneath the seated lady, there is a basket containing...

Stele of Akhenaten and his family. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 44865

Stela of Akhenaten and his family

The limestone stela shows King Akhenaten and his family as a “Holy Family.” It is considered to be an icon and was intended to be kept in a private chapel of an Amarna house. The stele, topped by the cavetto cornice, is decorated with a scene of an intimate moment from the daily life of...

Great Hymn to the Aten

In this Great Hymn to the Aten, a detail of a painted low relief depicts Akhenaten and his family adoring the sun god Aten. The stele showing Akhenaten and Nefertiti offering to the Aten, followed by their two eldest daughters shaking sistrum. The stele was completed but here is still a grid of red draft...

Victory Stele of Merneptah

Victory Stele of Merneptah

The stele of Merneptah was originally erected by King Amenhotep III in his mortuary temple on the west bank of Thebes. King Merneptah, the thirteenth son and successor of King Ramesses II, reused the back face of this gray granite stele. The round top of this face, topped by the winged sun disk and flanked...

Stele of Sculptor Bek with his wife Taheret

The stele of sculptor Bek the chief royal artist is itself a very distinctive product, with two figures contained within a naos but carved almost three-dimensionally. If, as would seem very possible, Bek himself carved the stele, this would be the oldest self-portrait known. The inscription of this stele also mentions him being taught by...

Stele of dedicated to Amun-Re by Baki

Stele of dedicated to Amun-Re by Baki

This round-topped stele of the foreman Baki is carved in low relief and painted in several colors. The pictorial plane is divided into two registers, the upper one containing two rams facing each other. The animals, with cobras rising on their foreheads, wear tall headdresses composed of two tall plumes with a solar disk at...