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Egyptian Artifacts

Interesting Roman-Egyptian Stela

Limestone stela from the Roman Period of Egyptian history

This is certainly an interesting stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ for sure! This stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ is made of limestone π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“Œ‰ but the craftsmanship is kind of…off! This is very typical for work from the time period (1st Century B.C.E. – 4th Century A.D.). During the Greek and Roman periods, objects like amulets π“Šπ“Šͺπ“…†π“ͺ, stelae π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έπ“ͺ, statues π“„šπ“ˆ–π“π“­π“€Ύπ“ͺ, and more were so mass produced that the craftsmanship suffered. Let’s take a look at what is going on!

The first thing I noticed is that there are no hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ on this stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ! So the only way to β€œdecipher” it is by looking at who is depicted! At the top, you can see the winged π“‚§π“Œ³π“π“†ƒ sun disk 𓇳𓏺, a symbol of life π“‹Ήπ“ˆ–π“ and regeneration. Beneath the sun disk 𓇳𓏺 are two 𓏻 snakes π“‡‹π“‚π“‚‹π“π“†˜π“ͺ and the β€œankh π“‹Ή,” which is the symbol for life π“‹Ήπ“ˆ–π“! While crudely carved, this is a very typical design to see on the top of a stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ.

In the middle panel, Anubis π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“Šͺ𓅱𓃣 (middle) is presenting the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 (right) to Osiris π“Ήπ“Š¨π“€­ (left). This scene is a very typical one that you would see on a stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ! During the Roman times, Anubis π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“Šͺ𓅱𓃣 was viewed as the β€œconquerer of death,” and was depicted a lot with the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 person in artwork.

On the bottom panel, it is inferred that Nephthys 𓉠𓏏𓆇 (left) and Isis π“Š¨π“π“₯ (right) are pictured in a mourning stance. I say β€œinferred” because usually when Isis π“Š¨π“π“₯ and Nephthys 𓉠𓏏𓆇 are pictured, they have their crowns on their head which make them very easy to recognize! Here they do not, however, there might be a tiny indication of a crown on Isis’ π“Š¨π“π“₯ head (though it is hard to see). I think the crowns are missing because the artist ran out of room!!