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stela
Object Type
stela
Museum number
EA636
Description
Rectangular painted limestone stela of Renefseneb: with a polychrome border, and a raised band of stone framing the scene. Two rows of black monochrome hieroglyphs on a yellow background record the traditional prayer in Middle Egyptian. The final words are painted in a third line that encroaches on the scene. All the hieroglyphs face the same direction as the figures to which they refer: opposite Renefseneb are two relatives, a man and a woman who are named in painted hieroglyphs added above them.
Cultures/periods
Middle Kingdom
Findspot
Found/Acquired:
Thebes (historic - Upper Egypt)
Materials
limestone
Technique
painted
carved
Dimensions
Height:
36.20 centimetres
(on base)
Weight:
11.80 kilograms
Width:
31.50 centimetres
Depth:
8.30 centimetres
$Inscriptions
Inscription subject
funerary
Curator's comments
The stela was presumably placed in his tomb chapel, where it would have acted as a focus for the funerary cult. The scene shows three figures and a heap of offerings.
Bibliographic references
Scott-Moncrieff 1912 / Hieroglyphic texts from Egyptian stelae, etc., in the British Museum, Part 2.
(pl.39)
Parkinson 1999 / Cracking Codes: The Rosetta Stone and Decipherment
(3)
Location
Not on display
Condition
fair
Associated names
Named in inscription:
Renseneb
Named in inscription:
Osiris
Associated places
Named in inscription:
Busiris
Acquisition name
Purchased through:
Rev Chauncey Murch
Purchased from:
Mohammed Mohassib
Acquisition date
1900
Department
Egypt and Sudan
BM/Big number
EA636
Registration number
1900,0609.147
Additional IDs
Miscellaneous number:
BS.636
(Birch Slip Number)
Conservation
Treatment
: 15 Sep 1998