stela
- Museum number
- EA189
- Description
-
Limestone funerary stela showing Anubis presenting a man and a woman to Osiris: the two figures representing the deceased are escorted by the jackal-headed Anubis, who is apparently shown twice. The first of the pair to be presented is the man, who wears a long tunic and a mantle with a thin overfold draped over his left shoulder; his hair is cut short in Ptolemaic fashion. The woman beside him also has a Ptolemaic hairstyle, brushed back from the face. She wears a long tunic and a mantle draped over her left shoulder (the latter hidden by her companion).
Osiris wears a tall crown and is seated on a throne, his head awkwardly turned to face the viewer. To his right stands Isis, wearing a horned disc on her head. All the deities wear broad collars; Isis and Osiris wear long tunics with either a border above the hem or a second tunic beneath; the escorting deities wear short tunics. The scene takes place on a ground-line; a narrow arch frames the top of the relief.
- Production date
- 1stC BC (?)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 68 centimetres (with base)
-
Width: 58 centimetres (with base)
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Depth: 14.50 millimetres (with base)
- Curator's comments
- The hairstyles and dress of the mortal figures suggest a date in the later Ptolemaic era. Similar scenes also occur on shrouds and stone reliefs of Roman date. Most recently, the relief has been ascribed to a local workshop of the first century AD.
Bibliography:
A. Abdalla, 'Graeco-Roman Funerary Stelae from Upper Egypt' (1992), 76, no.186, pl. 58;
K. Parlasca & H. Seeman, ‘Augenblicke, Mumienporträts un ägyptische Grabkunst aus römischer Zeit’ (1999), 326-7 no. 223.
S. Walker and M. Bierbrier, 'Fayum. Misteriosi volti dall'Egitto', London 1997, p. 182 [137].
'Portraits: De l’Egypte Romaine', Paris 1998, p. 164 [113].
S. Walker, 'Ancient Faces', New York 2000, pp. 141-142 [93].
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1997 22 Oct-1998 30 Apr, Italy, Rome, Fondaione Memmo, Ancient Faces
1998 Oct-1999 Jan, Paris, Musee du Louvre, Portraits de l'Egypte Romaine
2000 Feb-May, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ancient Faces
2006-2015 (Renewable), Glasgow, Kelvingrove, LT Loan
- Condition
- fair
- Acquisition date
- 1837
- Department
- Egypt and Sudan
- BM/Big number
- EA189
- Registration number
- .189
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: BS.189 (Birch Slip Number)
