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Stela of a Soldier Named Amunemhat

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
This stela depicts Sobek, the crocodile-god, wearing an elaborate crown and standing on a high pedestal or altar beneath the curved roof of a shrine. Sobek’s offering table is piled high with bread, meat, green onions, and a bouquet of lotuses. The stela’s donor, identified as Amunemhat, a foot soldier in the “Company of Menkheperre [Thutmose III]),” kneels in adoration. Foreign victories enriched both the king and his army and may have enabled Amunemhat to pay for this small but carefully worked stela, which he dedicated in Sobek’s temple at Dahamsha (ancient Sumenu) in southern Egypt.
MEDIUM Granite
  • Place Found: Dahamsha, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1479–1425 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 13 3/4 x 9 7/16 x 3 9/16 in. (34.9 x 24 x 9 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 66.174.2
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Black granite round-topped stela with sunk relief representation and incised inscriptions. In upper portion Sebek-ra in crocodile form with crown squatting on an “altar” under a baldachin facing right; before him a table with food offerings; one line of text above. In lower third kneeling worshipper named Amun-em-hat facing left; before him, from left to right, four columns of text and one column with his name. Condition: Good; slightly worn. Back left rough.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Stela of a Soldier Named Amunemhat, ca. 1479–1425 B.C.E. Granite, 13 3/4 x 9 7/16 x 3 9/16 in. (34.9 x 24 x 9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 66.174.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.66.174.2_erg456.JPG)
    IMAGE cover, CUR.66.174.2_erg456.JPG. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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