stela
- Museum number
- EA284
- Description
-
Limestone stela of Irynefer: there are two registers on this round-topped stela decorated in sunk relief with incised texts. In the upper section the goddess Taweret stands on the left, while on the right lies an altar heaped with offerings. Below, in the second part of the stela, the necropolis-workman Irynefer kneels in adoration together with his wife Mhy(t)-hc.tl who carries a brazier of incense. The top left-hand corner which has been lost and restored in modern times. The surface is covered in small scratches, and the edges are worn. Traces of red paint remain on the figure of Taweret, some of the offerings, the human figures and the dress of the lady. There are traces of yellow on the altar and black on the wig of Irynefer.
- Dimensions
-
Height: 30.50 centimetres
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Width: 21.50 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
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- Curator's comments
- The workman Irynefer and his wife flourished in the early part of the reign of Ramesses II and are attested in his tomb, no. 290, and several stelae (K. A. Kitchen, 'Ramesside inscriptions : translated & annotated Translations Vol.3, Ramses II, his contemporaries' (Oxford, 2000), 714-20).
Bibliography:
S. Sharpe, 'Egyptian Antiquities in the British Museum' (London, 1862), 50, no. 284;
The British Museum, 'A guide to the Egyptian galleries (Sculpture)' (London, 1909), 149-50 (no. 538);
B. Bruyere and C. Kuentz, 'La Tombe de Nakht-Min et la tombe d'Ari-Nefer' (Cairo, 1926), 105-6, pi. 20;
B. Porter & R. Moss, 'Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings' I (2) (Oxford: Clarendon Press), ii, 722;
K. A. Kitchen, 'Ramesside inscriptions : translated & annotated Translations Vol.3, Ramses II, his contemporaries' (Oxford, 2000), 718.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1995 Feb-May, Atlanta, Emory University, Reflections of Women in the New Kingdom
- Condition
- The stela is well preserved apart from the top left-hand corner which has been lost and restored in modern times. The surface is covered in small scratches, and the edges are worn.
- Acquisition date
- 1843
- Department
- Egypt and Sudan
- BM/Big number
- EA284
- Registration number
- .284
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: BS.284 (Birch Slip Number)
