Amunhotep I and Ahmose-Nofretary before Osiris

Occasionally an Egyptian artist rendered personalities from the distant past in an updated style. This stela shows the early Eighteenth Dynasty king Amunhotep I (circa 1514–1493 B.C.E.) and his mother, Ahmose-Nofretary, making an offering to Osiris, god of the dead, on behalf of a man named Nebamun. Despite the presence of Amunhotep I, the work does not date to his reign. The slanted, almond-shaped eyes, short, upturned noses, and sharply modeled outlines of the figures all characterize art from the time of Amunhotep III.

By commissioning this stela, Nebamun, whose image is now broken away, was calling on two long-dead members of the royal house to help him gain immortality.