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Funerary Stela with Male Figure

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

In this stela, an oddly proportioned naked male figure stands within a columned structure, reaching up to touch an ornamented laurel wreath on his head. In his other hand, he holds a laurel sprig. A Greek inscription along the roof line reads “Olympios, twenty-eight years of age.” This name and the laurel leaves suggest that the owner was a pagan. But the ankh-cross above the capital on the right suggests that this stela may later have been reused for a Christian burial.
CULTURE Coptic
MEDIUM Limestone, pigment
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES ca. 500-600 C.E. or later
    PERIOD Late Antique Period
    DIMENSIONS 14 3/4 x 11 7/16 x 4 1/4 in. (37.4 x 29 x 10.8 cm)  (show scale)
    INSCRIPTIONS Coptic inscription: "Olympios, 28 years of age" or “Olympio, rise in eternal life!”
    ACCESSION NUMBER 40.301
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Coptic. Funerary Stela with Male Figure, ca. 500-600 C.E. or later. Limestone, pigment, 14 3/4 x 11 7/16 x 4 1/4 in. (37.4 x 29 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 40.301. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 40.301_PS2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 40.301_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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