Skip Navigation

Stela of User-pekhty-nisu and his wife, Pa-netjer

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

The deceased and his wife sit at an offering table while their son stands making offerings. Unusually, their daughter sits behind the son. The standard offering prayer below is carved in hieroglyphs in a different style from the caption above, and some places in the inscription have been recarved. These features suggest that this stela was originally carved for a different couple and was later reused, a common practice for people who could not afford to commission a new stela.
MEDIUM Limestone
  • Reportedly From: Saqqara, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1539-1458 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY early Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 14 1/2 x 9 3/4 x 2 15/16 in. (36.8 x 24.8 x 7.5 cm)  (show scale)
    INSCRIPTIONS Inscribed
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1353E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Round-topped stela of limestone belonging to User-pehety-nisu and his wife Panether. At the top of the one decorated surface is a "shen"-sign flanked by "wadjet"-eyes. Below, on the left, are a man and a woman seated upon a lion-legged chair. The woman, seated behind the man, wears a lappet wig. The man wears a bobbed wig, and holds a lotus to his nose. The two figures face a small offering table. On the other side of the table stands a man holding a sistrum (?) in one hand, and pouring a libation onto the table with his other hand. Behind this figure, and overlapping it slightly, is the representation of a woman, seated, and holding a lotus flower to her nose. Above User-pehety-nisu and Panether is an inscription. Below these figures are three lines of hieroglyphs. The stela is unfinished: there is no carving of the pupil on the right-hand "wadjet"-eye. The technique used for the hieroglyphs is a crude plain-incised relief. The raised relief is rather flat. There are traces of red paint in some of the hieroglyphs. There are traces of brown paint on the seated man and woman. On the lotus which the man holds there are traces of orange color. There are traces of reddish paint on the field near the "shen"-sign. Condition: Large chips out of sides; front surface flaked off behind chair; large chip at front of lowest line of text.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Stela of User-pekhty-nisu and his wife, Pa-netjer, ca. 1539-1458 B.C.E. Limestone, 14 1/2 x 9 3/4 x 2 15/16 in. (36.8 x 24.8 x 7.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1353E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1353E_SL3.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 37.1353E_SL3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.