While not as artistically decorated as most of the artifacts in the Egyptian ππππ collections of museums, these βfunerary conesβ were always something my Nonno pointed out to me! He thought they were so interesting and now every time I go to museums, I actively seek these out as a way to remember my Nonno! He loved this little gallery (Gallery 117) at the MET solely because of the funerary cones!
Funerary cones (a modern name given to these objects) are made of clay πͺππ΄π and usually found at the openings of tombs ππ«πππͺ at Thebes πππ (almost exclusively). They were used primarily during the 18th Dynasty (though there are examples that date to the 11th Dynasty or as late as the 19th-20th Dynasties).
While the exact usage of the funerary cones is not known, but they are inferred to be architectural decorations, tomb labels, symbolic offerings π΅ππͺπππ¦, or even as passports to the Duat πΌπΏππ! Thousands πΌπΌπΌ of these cones have been excavated to date! Every museum I have been to has a collection of these funerary cones!
The end of the funerary cone is usually circular in shape and usually contains an inscription πππ₯ with the name of the tomb ππ«ππ occupant as well as a god πΉ. These objects can also be referred to as βfunerary stamps.β
An example inscription πππ₯ that is common on a funerary cone would be something like:
βVenerated before Osiris, Son of ____, Name of Deceased.β
πͺππ – Venerated
ππ – Before
πΉπ¨π – Osiris
π – Son