Egyptian Wooden Stela for Pa-di-Amun-(em)-ipat with Ra-Horakhty

Egyptian Wooden Stela for Pa-di-Amun-(em)-ipat with Ra-Horakhty
Late Period-Ptolemaic Period, 664-30 B.C. Arch-topped and composed of two vertical boards, coated with gesso and skilfully painted on one side; the lunette decorated with a winged sun-disc and two pendant uraei; the central vignette depicting the deceased worshipping the falcon-headed god Ra-Horakhty with the Four Sons of Horus standing behind, each with their name written above; the lower register with six lines of hieroglyphic text providing an offering formula for the benefit of the deceased:Transliteration of the hieroglyphs:1) ?tp-d?-?nsw r?-?r-??t??n?r ? nb pts?? [.....] ws?r? ?ntt [?m?ntt?]2) n?r ? nb ?b?w d???f pr.t-?rw t ?n?tk? ?pd [....] ?t nb(t) (n) fr(t) w?bt [?]3) ?t nbt n?m d???f ?tpw ?f?w [...]f ??m t d???f ?? m4) ?n?t d???f ?? ?r?p [...] d???f ?? m ??[...]d???f ?? ?(??)r(r)t d???f5) m sn?r ?r ??wt [...] ?rs nfr ?r ?m?ntnfr6) n [..] ws?r? [......] p?-d?-??m?n(m) ?p? ?.tms (n) ?? [....]Translation:1) An offering that the king and Ra-Horakhty, Great God, Lord of Heaven, the illuminated [...] Osiris Foremost [of the West?] 2) Great God, Lord of Abydos (that) he may give a voice-offering (of) bread, beer, oxen, and fowl [?] everything good and pure [?] 3) everything sweet, he gives offerings of provisions [?] a thousand of bread, he gives a thousand of 4) beer, he gives a thousand of wine [?], he gives a thousand of vines, he gives a thousand of 5) incense on the altar [?] a good burial in the beautiful West 6) for [?] the Osiris[?] Pa-di-Amun-(em)-ipat born (to) Kha[?];on the verso, an old handwritten collection label reading: 'From Harding & Sm[ith] Collection Sale Sotheby 2 Nov 1922 L.N. 234. A families[sic] stele, arched top, with the deceased worshipping a standing Horus attended by the four Children of Horus and six horizontal lines of inscription in colour. SP/10a'; mounted in a custom-made wooden frame. Cf. Munro, P., Die sp?t?gyptischen Totenstelen, 2 vols., ?gyptologische Forschungen 52, Gl?ckstadt, 1973, vol.2, pl.3, fig.12, for a stela with similar format; for an example with a three-line border see British Museum EA22919; or with a plain, single-coloured band with thin outer and inner delimiting lines see Cairo Museum A9444. 1.96 kg, 45 cm high (17 3/4 in.).

From the collection of the late W. Harding Smith (1848-1922).with Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 34 & 35 New Bond Street, 2 November 1922, no.234.Old handwritten label to verso reading 'From ?....? ?....? collection Sale Sotheby 2 Nov 1922 L.N.234...'Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.Accompanied by a copy of the 1922 Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge catalogue pages.

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