Artworks

Egyptian wood stele decorated in polychrome for Tsentwat. It is in three registers with hieroglyphic text below. The text reads 'A decree made by the Majesty the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Wenen-Nefer (Osiris), Justified: O ye gods … of the fertile land of the realm of the dead, ye spirits in … , ye followers who sleep at the side of … the kingdom of the dead, gods and goddesses of the ? horizon, heavenly ones … He says: O all ye gods, … ye the voice, Amun-re, Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands, Foremost in Karnak; Atum, Lord of the Two Lands, the Heliopolitan; Ptah, South of his Wall. Lord of Ankhtawy; Nun, Eldest of the Gods in the first Occasion (?); Osiris … Tasheritduai (?), justified, borne by the Lady of the House, the Musician of Amun-Re, Tasherit, justified, that she may enter to you. Come ye to the chamber … It is the secret chamber of the [Lord] of All, sacred of ways in the West, like Re, come … adoration to her face (?), come ye!' The main register shows Tsentwat standing with arms raised before Osiris, Isis, Nephthys and Anubis. The middle register shows the deceased before a divine boat, accompanied by the inscription 'Praising the Gods' and with a Ba bird perched behind her. The topmost register shows a winged solar disc above a scarab flanked by the snake deities Nekhbet and Wadjet, with jackals couchant at either side. Some cracks consolidated and minor retouching, but generally in fine condition with very fresh decoration.

Provenance

Lieut-General Fox Pitt-Rivers (1827-1900), Dorset, UK
Harer Collection.

Publications

Published as L.H. Dudley Buxton, The Pitt-Rivers Museum Farnham, General Handbook (1929) pl.xix; G.D.Scott III Temple Tomb and Dwelling: Egyptian Antiquities from Harer Family Trust Collection (San Bernadino 1992) no. 146.