Egyptian Stelae

• Stela (pl. stelae) is a Latin word derived from the Greek stele, which means pillar or vertical tablet. In English, the usual forms are stele and steles. In ancient Egypt, stelae are slabs of stone or wood, of many different shapes, usually bearing inscriptions, reliefs or paintings.

• In ancient Egypt, stelae were erected most frequently as tombstones and as boundary markers, but also as shrines and commemorative monuments.

• As tombstones, they were originally erected outside the tombs, to mark an offering place and to name the tomb owner. Those traditions have a parallel in modern times, when we place flowers on a grave site.

• The Rosetta

Stone

• The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC. The decree appears in three scripts:

• the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest, Ancient Greek.

• Because it presents essentially the same text in all three scripts (with some minor differences between them), it provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Weighing of the heart

Final judgment by Osiris

Ma’at, goddess of truth, is represented by the feather, on the

right. The human heart is on the left

• Anubis has the head of a jackal, a canine scavenger, associated with death and burial grounds.

• His black skin suggests the colour of mummified flesh, but also the rich silt of the Nile valley, which brings forth life in the crops raised by the Egyptians.

Sky goddess Nut, is held up by Shu, god of the air. Geb, god of the

earth, reclines at bottom.

• Horus, the falcon headed god, receives worship and offerings.

• Note the flail and crook, the iraeus (cobra) surrounding the sun disk, and the udjat above (eye of Ra)

• The pharoah, wearing the crown, offers wine to Ra, the sun god, and receives blessings, represented by the rays.

• Thoth is the male aspect of Ma’at, or truth. He is depicted with the head of an ibis (a marsh bird with a long beak)

Note the superb design of this composition. Note the use of overlap and the absence of

perspective

Note the different skin colours used for men and women.