Tag: stelae

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Egyptian Artifacts

Stelae

Here are two 𓏻 beautifully π“„€ decorated stelae from the British Museum. Nonno always loved looking at the various stelae π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έπ“ͺ in the museums. They were among his favorite artifacts – and he of course passed that love on to me!

In ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ were often used to commemorate the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 and keep their memory alive. That is one of the things I am doing for my Nonno through this account – keeping his memory alive and sharing what an amazing person he was with the world 𓇾𓇾. In addition, I am also keeping his name π“‚‹π“ˆ– alive because in Egyptian culture the name π“‚‹π“ˆ– was one of the most important elements of a human. In order to exist, a person needed to have five 𓏾 essential elements: the body π“Ž›π“‚π“„Ό, the shadow 𓆄𓏏𓅱𓋼, the Ba 𓅑𓏀, the Ka (soul/life force) 𓂓𓏀, and the name π“‚‹π“ˆ–.

On the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ on the left, there is a Ba 𓅑𓏀 statue attached to the top, which was a very popular style during the Ptolemaic Period (c. 332–30 B.C.E.), so I am going to assume that stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ is Ptolemaic. The Ba 𓅑𓏀 is the impression that an individual makes on others – everything except the physical body π“Ž›π“‚π“„Ό. The Ba 𓅑𓏀 can also be thought of as an individual’s personality. When a person died, the Ba 𓅑𓏀 was the only part of the person that would be able to travel out of the tomb π“‡‹π“«π“Šƒπ“‰, but it did have to return eventually to be reunited with the mummy 𓇋𓁹𓅱𓀾.

I like the combination of the Ba 𓅑𓏀 and the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ because they are connected – the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ was meant to commemorate the deceased, while the Ba 𓅑𓏀 was part of their soul. It makes sense for the Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ to attach the two 𓏻 together!

I wish I had closer pictures 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 of both stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ, but it was probably difficult with the glass. On the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ on the left, the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 is making an offering π“Š΅π“π“Šͺ𓏏𓏔𓏦 to Osiris π“Ήπ“Š¨π“€­. On the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ with the Ba 𓅑𓏀, there is so much happening! I would probably need to make three 𓏼 posts to interpret it all!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Roman-Egyptian Limestone Stela

(from left) The Pharaoh, Anubis and a Goddess (inferred to be Hathor)

This limestone π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“ˆ™π“Œ‰ stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ from the Roman Period is an interesting piece! Let’s take a closer look!

The stela depicts π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ a pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 (left) holding a sistrum π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£ and and offering a cloth 𓍱 to Anubis π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“Šͺ𓅱𓃣 (middle) and a goddess π“ŠΉπ“ (right). The pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 is wearing the Atef Crown π“‹š. The Atef Crown π“‹š is usually associated with the god π“ŠΉ Osiris π“Ήπ“Š¨π“€­.

Right next to the pharaoh’s 𓉐𓉻 head 𓁢𓏺 in the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ you can just see a cartouche which simply says (𓉐𓉻) or pharaoh! The emperor Augustus usually wrote his cartouche as (𓉐𓉻), however many other rulers during this time period did too so we can’t necessarily say for sure that it is Augustus that is depicted!

Anubis π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“Šͺ𓅱𓃣 is shown wearing the double crown π“‹– of both Upper 𓇓 and Lower 𓆀 Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–, which is cool because Anubis π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“Šͺ𓅱𓃣 usually isn’t depicted with a crown on his head 𓁢𓏺 in more traditional Egyptian art. During the Greek and Roman Periods, Anubis π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“Šͺ𓅱𓃣 was regarded as the β€œconquerer of death” and β€œcompanion/escort of the dead” and was very popular! Both Anubis π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“Šͺ𓅱𓃣 and the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ are holding Ankhs π“‹Ήπ“‹Ήπ“‹Ή in their hands.

The name π“‚‹π“ˆ– of the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ isn’t in the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ, however, I think the goddess π“ŠΉπ“ depicted is Hathor 𓉑 because the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻 is holding a sistrum π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£, and sistrums π“Šƒπ“ˆ™π“ˆ™π“π“£π“ͺ are associated with Hathor 𓉑. Plus, Hathor 𓉑 was also a popular goddess π“ŠΉπ“ to worship 𓇼𓄿𓀒 during this time period. I’m sure others have their interpretations as well, this is just mine!

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Egyptian Artifacts

Unfinished Stela

Look at this unfinished stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ – there are no hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ!!!! I love when museums have unfinished pieces of Egyptian art because it’s so cool to see various steps in the artistic process! The empty boxes above the deceased (right) and Ra-Horakhty π“…Šπ“”π“”π“€ (left) are where the hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ should be!

On the top of the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ, there are two Wedjat π“‚€ symbols. The Wedjat π“‚€ is a very common symbol of protection π“…“π“‚π“Ž‘π“€œ and regeneration. In between the Wedjats π“‚€π“‚€ is the Shen 𓍢 symbol! The Shen 𓍢 symbol is a circle of rope that is tied at the end. The tied rope symbolizes completeness, infinity/eternity π“Ž›π“‡³π“Ž›, and is also a symbol of protection π“…“π“‚π“Ž‘π“€œ. Both of these symbols could be worn by both the living π“‹Ήπ“ˆ–π“π“…±π“¦ and the dead 𓅓𓏏𓏱.

The deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 (right) is making an offering to the god π“ŠΉ Ra-Horakhty π“…Šπ“”π“”π“€ (left). This image is a very popular one to appear on stelae π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έπ“ͺ.

Ra-Horakhty π“…Šπ“”π“”π“€ is a combination of Ra 𓇳𓏺𓁛 and Horus π“…ƒπ“€­ into a single deity. I believe this is a depiction of Ra-Horakhty π“…Šπ“”π“”π“€ because he is wearing the sun-disc 𓇳𓏀 crown that has a Uraeus 𓇋𓂝𓂋𓏏𓆗 at the front. Also, Ra-Horakhty π“…Šπ“”π“”π“€ is holding a crook π“‹Ύ and flail π“Œ… and which is another common way to depict him. Ra-Horakhty π“…Šπ“”π“”π“€ is also sometimes shown holding a scepter π“Œ€ along with a flail π“Œ….

Based on the styling and the images 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 on the stela π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έ, I am going to infer that this piece is dated to the 22nd-25th Dynasties. There are many stelae π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έπ“ͺ like this in other museums too (except they are mostly finished, not unfinished)!