Content uploaded by Lucas Baqué-Manzano
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Lucas Baqué-Manzano on Mar 07, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur
Band 41 | 2012
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
HELMUT BUSKE VERLAG
HAMBURG
STUDIEN ZUR
ALTÄGYPTISCHEN
KULTUR
Band 41 | 2012
Herausgegeben von
Jochem Kahl und
Nicole Kloth
Die Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur (SAK), gegründet 1974, erscheinen jährlich in ein bis
zwei Bänden. Manuskripte erbeten an die Herausgeber oder an den Verlag:
Helmut Buske Verlag GmbH
Richardstraße 47
D-22081 Hamburg
SAK@buske.de
Herausgeber:
Beirat:
Prof. Dr. Hartwig Altenmüller (Hamburg)
Prof. Dr. Manfred Bietak (Wien)
Prof. Dr. Angelika Lohwasser (Münster)
Prof. Dr. Joachim Friedrich Quack (Heidelberg)
Alle Manuskripte unterliegen einer anonymisierten Begutachtung (peer review); über die An-
nahme oder Ablehnung des Manuskripts entscheiden die Herausgeber. Über die Internetseite
http://studien-zur-altaegyptischen-kultur.de sind die Formatvorlage sowie weitere Hinweise
zur Erstellung von Manuskripten für die SAK zu fi nden.
ISSN 0340-2215 (Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur)
ISBN 978-3-87548-645-2
© Helmut Buske Verlag GmbH, Hamburg 2012. Alle Rechte, auch die des auszugsweisen Nach-
drucks, der fotomechanischen Wiedergabe und der Übersetzung, vorbehalten. Dies betrifft
auch die Vervielfältigung und Übertragung einzelner Textabschnitte durch alle Verfahren wie
Speicherung und Übertragung auf Papier, Filme, Bänder, Platten und andere Medien, soweit
es nicht §§ 53 und 54 URG ausdrücklich gestatten. Bildbearbeitung, Druckvorstufe: Kerstin
Petrick. Druck: Strauss, Mörlenbach. Buchbinderische Verarbeitung: Schaumann, Darmstadt.
Gedruckt auf säurefreiem, alterungsbeständigem Papier: alterungsbeständig nach ANSI-Norm
resp. DIN-ISO 9706, hergestellt aus 100% chlorfrei gebleichtem Zellstoff. Printed in Germany.
Prof. Dr. Jochem Kahl
Freie Universität Berlin
Ägyptologisches Seminar
Altensteinstr. 33
D-14195 Berlin
jochem.kahl@fu-berlin.de
Dr. Nicole Kloth
Sondersammelgebiet Ägyptologie
Universitätsbibliothek
Plöck 107-109
D-69117 Heidelberg
kloth@ub.uni-heidelberg.de
Beyond the Offering Table: Cairo Stela, JE 45626
Lucas Baqué-Manzano
Abstract
The present article analyses Cairo Stela, JE 45626, dated between late Dynasty 11 and early Dynasty 12. Com-
paring its iconographic decoration with parallel works included in the so-called „Colorful Theban Group“, a
new scenic treatment of the secular theme of „the presentation of offerings“ may be observed. The spatial defi-
nition and the interrelation, obviously dramatic, among characters is intimately connected with some funerary
textual sources. The exaltation of family encounter in the Netherworld is clearly an exceptional motif of this
stela and such content approaches us to the context in which it was produced, providing useful elements for the
analysis of the society in Upper Egypt and about the circulation of ideas concerning the funerary world in the
early years of the Middle Kingdom.
Descriptive and stylistic criteria have been of great importance in identifying and defining
production of private funerary stelae during Middle Kingdom1. The most intricate problem,
however, in the study of such material is related to its chronology as well as to its icono-
graphic decoration, the latter scarcely analysed from the iconological point of view in spite
of being representative of the social changes that took place in the early years of that histor-
ical period. The treatment of figures, often rather roughly executed, and the design of stelae
itself, both in form and in content, contain relevant motifs that inform us of the ideas that
governed the work of artisans, showing the search for a renewal of representational sym-
bols apparently inspired by visual models of contemporary monuments.
An interesting example in this respect is the low flatted painted relief limestone stela of
Amenemhat2 (Cairo stela, JE 45626) dated between late Dynasty 11 and early Dynasty 123.
At first sight, the scenic structure and content of this stela reveal exceptional ingredients
and seem to include a new way of working the traditional theme of the presentation of of-
ferings. From its formal and iconographic „dissonances“, this article analyses the likely
influences of some textual sources in its final output.
1 Formal Description
Of beautiful simplicity but sophisticated in conception, this rectangular stela (see Fig. 1)
shows a woman and two men, all of them seated on a chair with lion’s paws legs and repre-
sented to the left side of an offering table. Beneath the seated woman is represented a bas-
ket containing a mirror of which only its handle is shown. Among the goods represented on
1 See K. Pflüger, The private Funerary Stelae of the Middle Kingdom and Their Importance for the Study of
Ancient Egyptian History, in: JAOS 67, 1947, 127-135; W.K. Simpson, The Terrace of the Great God at Aby-
dos: The Offering Chapels of Dynasties 12 and 13, New Haven/ Philadelphia 1974; Cl. Obsomer, _i.f prt-xrw
et la filiation ms(t).n/ ir(t).n comme critères de datation dans les textes du Moyen Empire, in: C. Cannuyer/ J.-
M. Kruchten (eds.), Individu, société et spiritualité dans l’Égypte pharaonique et Copte. Mélanges égyp-
tologiques offerts au Professeur Aristide Théodoridès, Bruxelles 1993, 163-200; R.E. Freed, Stela Workshops
of Early Dynasty 12, in: P. Der Manuelian (ed.), Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Boston 1996,
297-336.
2 It was found in Asasif. A.M. Lythgoe/A. Lansing/N. de Garis Davies, The Egyptian Expedition 1915-16: I.
Excavations in the Assasîf at Thebes, in: BMMA 12, 1917, No. 5 Supplement, 13 and fig. 9; PM I/2, 618; M.
Saleh/H. Sourouzian, Catalogue Officiel. Musée Égyptien du Caire, Mainz 1987, no. 79.
3 Freed, op.cit., 300.
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
L. Baqué-Manzano SAK 41
34
the offering table we distinguish: a bunch of onions, a string of beef ribs, a lettuce, a liver
and a foreleg and underneath, on the ground, two loaves of bread. To the right and separat-
ed from the group by the offering table, another woman is represented alone in a standing
position, with her right hand held to her breast and her left arm and open hand hanging
along her body in a gesture of respect and homage. According to the Egyptian pattern of
human figure representation, men and women are depicted respectively with reddish brown
and creamy yellow flesh colour. Men wear a short white linen kilt, coloured green bracelets
and collar and one of them is represented with bearded face. Women wear a long tight-
fitting dress and tripartite full wig, with coloured green bracelets and collar too, besides
anklets. The characters and the offerings are outlined in black which contrasts the shape of
the figures over a soft grey background.
Along the upper part of the stela there is a horizontal line of hieroglyphic inscription
where we read the following:
prit-xrw iH.w Apd.w n imAx Imn-m-HAt n imAx.t Iy
imAx xr Wsir di=f prit-xrw iH.w Apd.w n imAx.w
„An invocation-offering (consisting of): oxen and fowl to the revered one Amenemhat
and to the revered one Iy. The revered one with Osiris, that he may give an invocation-
offering (consisting of:) oxen and fowl to the revered ones“.
The offering formula is completed below with the hieroglyphic names:
imAx.t sn.t=f @py(t), „The revered one, his sister, Hepyt“, written over the
head of the woman represented alone and , „The revered one, Intef“,
these last signs facing in the direction in which the bearded man is looking at his compan-
ion.
Fig. 1: Cairo stela, JE 45626
This is indeed a unique stela in its presentation and a close analysis of the scene reveals
important variations in style and in the scenic arrangement with regard to some other stelae
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
2012 Beyond the Offering Table 35
assigned to the same workshop4, or even attributed to the same artisan: NY, MMA
16.10.327; NY, MMA 16.10.333 and Cairo stela, JE 45625.
Thus, apart from a similar use of colour in all the examples, the composition in Cairo
stela, JE 45626 is not, unlike other mentioned works, dominated by austerity in an evident
interest to intensify the potential emotive features of the scene. It is also notable the devel-
opment of the lines governing the scenic conception in which there is little of verticality
pattern. The most obvious difference we find is in the interest in pictorial space where the
exploitation of motifs and characters contrasts with the other examples. Here the seated
group, on the left side, clearly focuses the interest of the viewer displacing, in a sort of
mannerism5, to a secondary level the subject-matter of the picture, i.e., the presentation of
offerings.
Another important detail is the standing figure of the woman, on the right side, who is
shown not integrated in this space. By contrast, the gestures of the figures, left of the scene,
show some refinement in an effort to capture expression in the context of human relations
and this is also far from the passive characters of other works, in which attitudes seem fos-
silized. In spite of this, we must recognize, besides the use of colour, that the faces repre-
sented in the Asasif stelae show in certain details similar features which seem close to two
main facial types (see Fig. 3).
2 Iconographic Analysis
From the iconographic point of view, the scene portrayed in Cairo stela, JE 45626, contains
some other peculiarities that do not obey conventions within the old subject-matter of the
presentation of offerings. The most striking one is in the fact of placing two separate epi-
sodes within a single theme.
The first episode is properly related to the supply of offerings, food and drink, in order
to provide for the needs of the deceased in the hereafter6. The tendency during Middle
Kingdom was towards subordinating all the representation to this ceremony carried out by
the relatives. The offering table would clearly mark the border between the world of the
living and the world of the dead7. However, in our Cairo stela the standing woman on the
right leads the viewer, with her staring face, to the second episode, which is placed on the
left side. Contrary to what one might expect, there are no conventional seated or standing
figures of the deceased facing the pile of offerings or the serving of the funerary banquet.
Instead, this second episode, concerning exclusively the three figures on the left of the sce-
ne, clearly searches for a new direction of the theme, despite the fact that the characters and
4 According to Freed, op.cit., 299, the Workshop no. I. called „Colorful Theban Group“ and integrated by:
NY, MMA 16.10.333: Cairo, JE 45626; Cairo, JE 45625; NY, MMA 16.10.327; Florence 6364; Vienna ÄS
202. Recently, stela L 131, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, has been attributed to the same work-
shop. See D. Stefanović, Four Middle Kingdom stelae from the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, in:
JEA 96, 2010, 207.
5 Term used here in the sense of a style evolving into „expressiveness“, „emotion“ and a certain „artificiali-
ty“.
6 S. Aufrère, La table d’offrande, in: S. Aufrère/N. Bosson/Ch. Landes (eds.), Catalogue de l’exposition:
Portes pour l’au-delà. L’Égypte, le Nil et le „Champ des Offrandes“ (7 décembre 1992-29 mars 1993), Lattes
1992, 19-46.
7 Ch. Kuentz, Bassins et tables d’offrandes, in: Supplément BIFAO 81, 243-282.
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
L. Baqué-Manzano SAK 41
36
actions are conceived within a same scenic framework as an extension of the first episode.
The descriptive details of the group, depicted in a relaxed atmosphere – not free from emo-
tion and feeling –, seem to explore the features of the „family meeting“, evolving into a
kind of intimate isolation, apparently alien to their surroundings and consequently far from
the main motif, i.e., the invocation-presentation of offerings. Some other aspects of the
meeting: the embrace, the clenched hands and the crossing looks, reinforce the self seclu-
sion of the characters through this emotive private exchange among them.
The next observation concerns the distribution of these three figures in the mastery of
pictorial space. But specially in this matter one can hardly avoid the previous questions in
relation to the information provided by the hieroglyphic inscriptions, what is the real identi-
ty of the characters depicted? What kind of relationship exists among them? In the accepted
description of this stela in: The Egyptian Museum Cairo, Official Catalogue, 1987, the
group of three has been identified by M. Saleh and H. Sourouzian8 as follows: the mother
(=Iy), left of scene, the son (=Intef), centre and the father (= Amenemhat), right; as for the
standing woman, she is recognized as the daughter-in-law of the couple, Amenemhat and Iy
and, consequently, as Intef’s wife.
The reasons for this identification of the characters are not clear and the main contro-
versial point is actually the hieroglyphic column in which the name „Intef“ is mentioned.
To solve the puzzle one should take into account the well known principle of interdepend-
ence9 between image and writing adopted by ancient Egyptians and concerning which
Schäfer10 observed: „it adapts itself perfectly to the composition of a work (. . .) and it is
integrated in pictures by making the signs face in the direction in which the person they
belong to is speaking, looking or acting“. Considering the former argument, then it seems
convenient to conclude that the bearded man facing left is, against the accepted opinion,
Intef and the man sitting opposite him is Amenemhat.
As for the relationship among characters the confusion remains and thus while the hier-
oglyphic text makes direct reference to two couples (husband and wife), it is obvious that
the argument of kinship among them (father/mother, son/daughter-in-law) can only be sup-
posed as the inscription does not confirm such family relation.
Returning to the issue of spatial definition, there is a deal of ambiguity concerning the
distribution of figures and their interrelation: the overlapping of feet, knees and buttocks, or
the interlocked arms and crossed legs. In fact, the important function of the chair/s on
which the figures sit suggests continuity11, but again according to the observation of the
principles of Egyptian bidimensional representation we have to assume that this is only a
visual impression or effect. The recreation of the perspective of the scene, from bidimen-
sional to tridimensional view (see Fig. 2), gives an idea of the real position of the different
characters and how distinctive this work is, clearly more ambitious in spatial construction
compared to others attributed to the same workshop.
8 Saleh/Sourouzian, op.cit., no. 79.
9 H.G. Fischer, L’écriture et l’art de l’Égypte ancienne, Paris 1986, 68.
10 H. Schäfer, Principles of Egyptian Art, Oxford 1974, 257.
11 According to the tridimensional view of the group placed on the left of Cairo stela, JE 45626 (see Fig. 2),
it is difficult to conceive the presence of only one chair. Thus, the apparent only chair represented is clearly an
element of „artificiality“ leading to a space of continuity to reinforce the interrelation among characters.
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
2012 Beyond the Offering Table 37
Fig. 2: Bidimensional and hypothetical tridimensional view of groups of man (M) and wife (W)
(Cairo stela, JE 45626)
It is also remarkable the colour balance and the symbolism specifically in the use of green
for collars, bracelets, anklets and vegetables, or even in the offering formulae, reminiscent
of renaissance after death in this context of funerary cult12.
A sense of local fashion seems certainly to prevail in Asasif concerning the use of col-
our and consequently, from this point of view, one should accept the designation „Colorful
Theban Group“ attributed to a same workshop or studio working at Thebes over a period
chronologically placed between the end of 11th Dynasty and early Dynasty 1213. Whence
the taste for this obvious common trait is derived becomes clear when we observe the col-
our scheme, or even the method of modelling forms, developed in the tomb of Dagi14, high
official during the reign of Mentuhotep II and Mentuhotep III15. Not excluding other exam-
ples16, stylistic features of this relevant antecedent may have influenced in the immediate
progress of the „Colorful Theban Group“, and certainly the most elaborated works included
12 About the symbolism of colour and its religious connotations, see S. Aufrère, Évolution des idées con-
cernant l’emploi des couleurs dans le mobilier et les scènes funéraires en Égypte jusqu’à l’époque tardive (=
Autour de l’Univers minéral XII), in: S. Colinart/M. Menu (eds.), La couleur dans la peinture et l’émaillage de
l’Égypte ancienne, Actes de la Table Ronde Ravello, 20-22 mars 1997, Bari 1998, 31-42 and the referred bibli-
ography on this subject.
13 Freed, op. cit, 300.
14 See NY, MMA 12.180.243 and W.C. Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt I, New York 1953, 162-163.
15 Dagi’s death has been redated between Year 8 of Mentuhotep III, at the earliest, and Year 2 of Men-
tuhotep IV, at the latest. See J.P. Allen, Some Theban Officials of the Early Middle Kingdom, in: P. Der Ma-
nuelian (ed.), Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, Boston 1996, 15.
16 Some facial characteristics of the „Colorful Theban Group’s“ typologies may also be observed in remain-
ing relief examples from high courtiers’ tombs: Henenu (NY, MMA 26.3.218); Khety (NY, MMA 26.3.354,
26.3.354v2 and NY, MMA 26.3.354x).
M-1
M-1’
M-2’
M-2
W-1 W-2
W-2’
W-1’
BIDIMENSIONAL
TRIDIMENSIONAL
EPISODE 1 EPISODE 2
OFFERING TABLE
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
L. Baqué-Manzano SAK 41
38
in it would indicate such regional connections. However, the artistic characteristics of the
group seem to establish two tendencies according to facial types (see Fig. 3) and this would
suggest, besides particular characteristics, that its general attribute, i.e. colour, was in fact
not so consistent as to prevent iconographic innovation beyond that standard.
Fig. 3: „Colorful Theban Group“ Facial Types.
Dotted line points out variations of main types
The narrative emphasis we find in our Cairo stela goes far beyond almost everything
found in other parallel works. What is unusual is the above-mentioned iconographic treat-
ment of the secular theme of the presentation of offerings in a way that seems to elude tra-
ditional scenic conventions17.
17 See J. Vandier, Manuel d’archéologie égyptienne IV, Paris 1964, 59-81 and figs. 18-24.
Cairo, JE 45625 Cairo, JE 45626
NY, MMA 16.10.333
Vienna, ÄS 202
Type B: bulging lively eyes, beardless or short beard
and whiskers (men), outlined facial features (mouth,
nose), tripartite wig (women), close caplike wig (men).
Type A: wide eyes, short beard and no whiskers
(men), non-outlined facial features, tripartite wig
(women), long or short full wig (men).
Athens, L131
NY, MMA 16.10.327
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
2012 Beyond the Offering Table 39
Likewise, it is also noteworthy the exploitation of forms and gestures through a re-
strained expression, in order to increase dramatic possibilities, and the more emphatic treat-
ment of facial features which contrasts with the schematism or rudeness of the other facial
types included as variants in the same classification. In this respect, the only comparison
which seems to carry weight with reference to a possible same workshop is the use of col-
our, but even in this case the presumed parallelisms between Cairo stela, JE 45626 and the
related Asasif works are hardly a decisive argument to suggest, at least as for decoration,
the hand of an only artisan18.
3 Iconological Approach
The way of expressing the theme of the presentation of offerings is, for sure, the great reve-
lation of Cairo stela, JE 45626. Comparing its distinctive treatment of that matter in relation
to the other stelae attributed to the same workshop or even to the same period, we observe
that the artisan built the scene integrating elements in appearance influenced by religious
funerary sources. The most likely textual references governing the work are illustrated in
some of the contents of The Coffin Texts19 referred under the headline:
(CT 146, II, 180)
dmD Ab.t n(y).t s n=f m Xr(.t)-nTr,
„Assembling a man’s family for him in the necropolis“.
And no other passage could be more evocative of the „family meeting“ than that in
which we read:
(CT 146, II, 201-203)
N
N
N
iw r=f N pn hAw Xaw ib=f nDm rdi n=f Ab.t=f iw wr.w n(y).w Ab.t n(y).t N pn hAyw Haw
ib=sn nDm m xsfw N pn,
„And as for him, this N, has gone down rejoicing and happy-hearted, for his family has
been given to him and the great ones of this N’s family have gone down joyfully and
their hearts are happy at meeting this N.“
18 As Freed, op.cit., 302, proposes for NY, MMA 16.10.327, NY, MMA 16.10.333, Cairo JE 45625, and
Cairo JE 45626.
19 See CT 136-146.
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
L. Baqué-Manzano SAK 41
40
If our interpretation is correct that would mean that in the design of Cairo stela, JE
45626, were involved textual conceptions on the hereafter, which clearly mark a break with
the preceding tradition within private funerary stelae. The dramatization of gestures, such
as the embrace of the characters and the crossing looks, reinforces even more the narrative
climax, exploring ideas about the Netherworld according to religious funerary sources
which until then had only been expressed in written contexts. Actually, the stress of the
scene is not limited to the usual funerary banquet or related rituals concerning the presenta-
tion of offerings, but clearly focuses on the events happening beyond the offering table, i.e.,
in the realm of the dead. From this point of view, the exceptional iconographic references in
the encounter between the two men would also suggest some passages included in CT 38-
4120 which describe the meeting between a previously deceased father and his recently de-
ceased son and how the first one will give support to the second one before the tribunal of
Osiris. Although the real relationship of the characters placed to the left of the offering
table in our Cairo stela is not confirmed by the offering formula, the idea of some kind of
family connection (perhaps the most accepted father-mother-son or simply two brothers and
sister-in-law) seems to impose.
In its final result the scene encloses the following narrative sequence:
(1) The presentation of offerings21; the offering table and formula are the clue elements
in the symbolic association with the afterworld.
(2) On the left, the deceased Intef is being received by his relatives, the imAx.w Ame-
nemhat and Iy, in the Netherworld; this is the moment of the crucial „family meeting“22.
Intef is shown wearing the beard which distinguishes him according to the hieroglyphic
inscription as the recent possessor of the state of „imAx xr Wsir“23, after he has passed the
judgment hall24 and where he has been sponsored by Amenemhat25. Clenched hands and the
embrace of the two men26 would reinforce the symbolic content of protection and their
close relationship27 .
(3) On the right, the wife of Intef, Hepyt, appears as a very important character. A pri-
ori, she seems merely to act as the person in charge of presenting offerings for the dead.
However, through her attitude, apparently secondary in the scene, she plays the important
function of carrying out the ritual and hence she is honoured as imAx.t too. She effectively
demands through her gesture of respect access to the Netherworld for her Intef, her hus-
band. This interaction between husband and wife enhances the role of the woman, who
20 For a full discussion of CT 38-40, R.O. Faulkner, Spells 38-40 of the Coffin Texts, in: JEA 48, 1962, 36-44.
21 See e.g. CT 38, I, 164-165.
22 CT 146, II, 201-203.
23 This part of the offering formula in the Cairo stela, JE 45626, would confirm our identification of Intef as
recently deceased, i.e., the bearded man represented on the left of the scene. See the next note.
24 The beard and the moustache as funerary symbols of renovation are both characteristic motifs of Middle
Kingdom funerary masks and also of the stoppers of the canopic jars. See e.g. Hayes, op.cit., 304 and also
Saleh/Sourouzian, op.cit., no 96.
25 Although we do not know the real relationship between Amenemhat and Intef in the scene, it seems clear
that both characters could represent a filial image within the so-called „father-son constellation“. In this respect,
J. Assmann, L’image du père dans l’ancienne Égypte, in: H. Tellenbach (ed.), L’image du père dans le mythe et
l’histoire 1. Égypte, Grèce, Ancient et Nouveau Testaments, Paris 1983, 21-70.
26 About the important symbolic connotations of this gesture in a father-son interrelation context, see Ass-
mann, op.cit., 62-63.
27 See CT 38, I, 158-163; CT 39, I, 171-172; CT 40, I, 175-176.
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
2012 Beyond the Offering Table 41
seems to play a referential character of goddess Hathor, i.e., the „deceased’s sister“, „the
woman who is in charge of the Great Field“ and through whom her husband’s encounter
with his family will be granted28.
Taking into account the great importance of these elements as indicative of the progress
in religious and funerary conceptions that took place from the First Intermediate Period
onward29, one might wonder what was the historical and social context in which these
changes could have prospered.
We have the picture proposed by D. Arnold30 through her analysis of contemporary
documents31 with reference to everyday life in the Theban area during early 12th dynasty;
her main conclusions to be considered here are the following: a) that people at Thebes lived
in a relative wealth and peaceful social environment considerably better off than people
elsewhere in Egypt and b) that maybe as a consequence of the general welfare, the popula-
tion does not appear involved in politics, but basically centred in their private affairs and/or
their relatives. It is indeed on the light of these arguments about the social background at
Thebes that we can assume a state of flourishing artistic production and the development of
a local middle-class art, concerning employees or clients of noblemen and high courtiers.
This subtype of patronage in the arts would give some justification to the development of
local workshops, and it would probably exercise its preferences on the work of artisans or
entertain fresh (iconographic) views – those shown by Cairo stela, JE 45626 – about the
significance of family as cohesive element and sustainer of its members32.
28 See CT 146, II, 199-201.
29 In this precise context we must refer to the controversial „democratization“ or „demotization of the here-
after“ and the recent contribution on this matter made by H. Willems, Les textes des sarcophages et la dé-
mocratie, Paris 2008. For this author, such idea has been sustained in Egyptology not on the basis of historical
evidences but on the subjective „vital experiences“ (especially from the First World War on) which have been
„traditionally“ and uncritically accepted by a great number of scholarly works (Willems, op.cit., 133-140). On
this particular concept, M. Smith, Democratization of the Afterlife, in: J. Dielememan/W. Wendrich (eds.),
UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles 2009, 1-16 (http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/view
Item.do?ark=21198/zz001nf62b), has reached the same conclusion, but he has markedly contrasted his own
arguments with those of the former author. Likewise, another decisive line of divergence concerns the chronol-
ogy of the Coffin Texts, which some authors consider, as for their origins and content, within „the provincial
setting of the First Intermediate Period“ (e.g. S. Seidlmayer, The First Intermediate Period (c.2160-2055 BC),
in: I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford 2000, 115-116 and J.C. Moreno García, El
primer período intermedio, in: J.M. Parra (co.), El antiguo Egipto, Madrid 2009, 194), while others (e.g. Wil-
lems, op.cit., 142) state that this corpus was mainly a development of the Middle Kingdom period. It would be
imprudent to try to give in a footnote a final verdict on the many complex aspects connected with this subject.
Nevertheless, there are some arguments that need to be referred to briefly: (1) The Cairo stela, JE 45626 here
analysed and probably other iconographic examples not properly studied, open a new way in the examination of
the access to the hereafter of non-royal (middle-class) individuals who could not afford an exclusive decorated
inscribed coffin (cf. Willems, op.cit., 171-172). (2) The new patterns of social and political organization, even
the spread of funerary ideas and paraphernalia of royal origin (Willems, op.cit., 144) that emerged during the
First Intermediate Period in ancient Egypt, including a higher relevance of family links (see also the „letters to
the dead“) – which found undoubtedly echo in many spells of the Coffin Texts –, could have forced a change in
the mentalities concerning the achievement of the hereafter. Thus, beyond materialistic prerogatives by hierar-
chy and social status, we perceive in lower levels of the society an increasing manifest feeling of „equality
before death“ (we may call it „isothanasia“, rather than „democratization“) which would permit them the acqui-
sition of the benefits of afterlife with minimum requirements.
30 D. Arnold, Amenemhat I and the Early Twelfth Dynasty at Thebes, in: MMJ 26, 1991, 37-38.
31 From the Hekanakht papers. T.G.H. James, The Hekanakhte Papers and other early Middle Kingdom
Documents, New York 1962.
32 See above, note 29.
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
L. Baqué-Manzano SAK 41
While it is obvious that the pictorial results of the stelae included in the „Colorful The-
ban Group“ and the other workshops headquartered at Thebes were clearly influenced, as
for form, colour or portrayed attitudes, by the models of the most outstanding monuments
placed in the vicinity33, some progressive artisans, as that of Cairo stela, JE 45626, could
have exploited new iconographic potentialities provided in this case by funerary sources.
The work here analysed represents a beautiful exception: it focuses on interpersonal rela-
tions, creating a vivid portrait of the family encounter, from a new perspective, as sponsor
and guarantee in the achievement of the Netherworld described beyond the offering table.
33 Freed, op.cit., 334. It is significant to point out that none of the decoration of tomb no 37, placed just be-
side subsidiary tombs R 1-12 (PM I/2, 615) in Asasif, has been preserved. The state in which tomb 37 was
found has prevented the possibility of establishing iconographic or stylistic parallels or influences between this
main tomb and the smaller ones placed on the west side of the portico; Lythgoe/Lansing/de Garis Davies,
op.cit., 12 and fig. 7.
42
SAK 41 • © Helmut Buske Verlag 2012 • ISSN 0340-2215
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Altenmüller, Hartwig
Bemerkungen zum Architrav und zur Scheintür des Felsgrabes des Anchi
unter der Südumfassung der Djoseranlage in Saqqara (Taf. 1-2) .................................... 1-20
Assem, Rehab
The God @w – A Brief Study ........................................................................................ 21-31
Baqué-Manzano, Lucas
Beyond the Offering Table: Cairo Stela, JE 45626 ....................................................... 33-42
Bommas, Martin
First Intermediate Period tombs at Beni Hassan: Problems and Priorities (including
BH no. 420 and the unpublished box coffin fragment BH3Liv) (Taf. 3-4) ................... 43-65
Brawanski, Alexander / Fischer-Elfert, Hans-Werner
Der „erotische“ Abschnitt des Turiner Papyrus 55001: Ein Lehrstück
für das männliche Ego? (Taf. 5-9) ................................................................................. 67-97
Breyer, Francis
Zwerg-Wörter und ägyptisch-kuschitischer Sprachkontakt bzw. -vergleich.
Zur sprachlichen Situation im mittleren Niltal des 3.-2. Jts. v. Chr. ........................... 99-112
Broekman, Gerard P. F.
On the administration of the Thebaid
during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (Taf. 10-11) .......................................................... 113-135
Gabra, Gawdat
Ein vergessener Naos Nektanebos I. in Alt-Kairo (Taf. 12-13) ................................ 137-138
Haring, Ben
Stela Leiden V 65 and Herihor’s Damnatio Memoriae (Taf. 14-16) ........................ 139-152
Jiménez-Serrano, Alejandro
On the Construction of the Mortuary Temple of King Unas ..................................... 153-161
Kahl, Jochem
Regionale Milieus und die Macht des Staates im Alten Ägypten:
Die Vergöttlichung der Gaufürsten von Assiut (Taf. 17-19) ..................................... 163-188
VI Inhaltsverzeichnis SAK 41 (2012)
Kahl, Jochem / El-Khadragy, Mahmoud / Verhoeven, Ursula / Abdelrahiem,
Mohammed / Fahid, Hisham / Kilian, Andrea / Kitagawa, Chiori /
Zöller-Engelhardt, Monika / van Elsbergen, Michael / Rzeuska, Teodozja
The Asyut Project: Ninth Season of Fieldwork (2011) (Taf. 20-21) ......................... 189-235
Lehmann, Manuela
Die Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen in den Felsinschriften
des Mittleren Reiches in der Region Aswân ............................................................. 237-275
Moje, Jan
Der Domänenschreiber der Gottesgemahlin Nes-pa-qai-schuti B und
seine Familie in der 25./ 26. Dynastie (Taf. 22-28) ................................................... 277-321
Panov, Maxim
Two Coffins of the Late Period (Taf. 29-33) ............................................................. 323-339
Satzinger, Helmut / Stefanović, Danijela
The Middle Kingdom xnmsw (Taf. 34) ..................................................................... 341-351
Spalinger, Anthony
Nut and the Egyptologist ........................................................................................... 353-377
Tarasenko, Mykola
The Vignettes of the Book of the Dead Chapter 17 during the
Third Intermediate Period (21st−22nd Dynasties) (Taf. 35-37) ................................ 379-394
Vasiljević, Vera
Female owners of carrying chairs: Sitzsänfte and Hocksänfte ................................... 395-406
Verner, Miroslav
Pyramid towns of Abusir (Taf. 38) ............................................................................ 407-410
Anschriften der Autorinnen und Autoren .................................................................. 411-412
Tafel 1-38
Korrigendum zu Johanna Sigl, Weaving Copts in the North Tombs of Tell el-Amarna,
in: SAK 39 (2011), S. 367