Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Stela of the Lady of the House, Hery-ib-Neith

ca. 945–712 B.C.E.

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Caption

Stela of the Lady of the House, Hery-ib-Neith, ca. 945–712 B.C.E.. Wood, stucco, pigment, 13 3/8 x 8 1/16 in. (34 x 20.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1384E. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Title

Stela of the Lady of the House, Hery-ib-Neith

Date

ca. 945–712 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 22

Period

Third Intermediate Period

Geography

Reportedly from: Thebes, Egypt

Medium

Wood, stucco, pigment

Classification

Funerary Object

Dimensions

13 3/8 x 8 1/16 in. (34 x 20.4 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

37.1384E

Frequent Art Questions

  • Can I have more information please?

    This is the "Stela of the Lady of the House, Hery-ib-Neith", depicting a woman entering the afterlife. You can identify her by her yellow skin. The woman's yellow skin indicates her gender, men were often depicted with red skin. Thoth, with the head of an ibis, has blue skin, suggesting a relationship to the moon.The other figures in the image include the god Thoth, who leads her towards Re-horakhty, Isis, and Nephthys. As you will see in other parts of the exhibition, these tactics for depicting skin color could be altered to portray the same individual as either a man or a woman.

  • What about this piece indicates gender transformation?

    This exhibition, while focusing on the new scholarship on gender transformation in the ancient Egyptian belief system, also seeks to portray the more straightforward aspects of a woman's tomb.
    This stela belonged to a woman who is depicted all the way to the right of the composition being led in front of the gods by Thoth.

  • What kind of material did they use to paint?

    Ancient people had many varied ways of painting with pigment, just like we do today. Even in ancient Egypt, there was not simply one set of pigments or way of painting.
    Unfortunately, the mediums and binders used in Egyptian paint are something of a debate, so it's often hard to say. Mineral pigments were used to achieve the colors. For instance, some bright yellows were made with arsenic. In the case of coffins and cartonnages, a layer of beeswax over the pigment was also sometimes used to preserve the painting, complicating the issue further.

Have information?

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bkmcollections@brooklynmuseum.org.