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Stela of Lady Horemheb

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
Not all funerary stelae made for women were as modest as this one, which was not carved but decorated only with paint. The stela is shaped like a shrine, with an architectural molding and cornice, and an offering sign consisting of a loaf of bread on a mat. A pair of wedjat-eyes, signifying wholeness and protection, surmounts this composition underneath a short prayer to Osiris, god of the dead, for the “Mistress of the House,” Horemheb.
MEDIUM Limestone, pigment
  • Place Excavated: Haraga, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1938-1759 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 12
    PERIOD Middle Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 24 7/16 x 15 5/8 x 5 11/16 in. (62 x 39.7 x 14.5 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 14.669
    CREDIT LINE Museum Collection Fund
    PROVENANCE Tomb 19, Harageh, Egypt; 1913-14, excavated by the British School of Archaeology; 1914, purchased from the British School of Archaeology by the Brooklyn Museum.
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    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Limestone funerary stela of the Lady Horemheb with ink inscription and cavetto cornice painted on in ink. Two large wadjet eyes painted on lower part of stela. Torus molding. Condition: Fair. Entire surface coated with wax by Petrie just after excavation. Edges chipped. Stone soft at edges.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Stela of Lady Horemheb, ca. 1938-1759 B.C.E. Limestone, pigment, 24 7/16 x 15 5/8 x 5 11/16 in. (62 x 39.7 x 14.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 14.669. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.14.669_erg456.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, CUR.14.669_erg456.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 9/6/2007
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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