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Lot Essay
A number of similar stelae are published in P. Munro, "Die Spätägyptische Totenstelen", Ägyptische Forschungen 25, Gluckstadt, 1973, where only one other stela is described as being two-sided. A very similar example is in the British Museum, accession no. 22915, made in sycamore fig wood and found at Thebes, which is probably also the case for this example.
The main text is divided in two parts: on the left side there is a prayer to 'Re at his rising in the Eastern horizon of heaven', and on the right a prayer for 'when he sets in the Necropolis'. There are prayers to the rising sun, also identified as Re-Harakhty on the left vignette, and to the setting sun, Atum on the right vignette.
On the obverse, the deceased, now resuscitated, shares the divine aspect and golden skin colour of Re-Horakhty and Atum, whose divine flesh was made of gold. On the reverse, Isis and Nephthys have the green skin of Osiris, indicative of his regenerative power; the djed-pillar symbolises the spine and ribs of the funerary god.
The main text is divided in two parts: on the left side there is a prayer to 'Re at his rising in the Eastern horizon of heaven', and on the right a prayer for 'when he sets in the Necropolis'. There are prayers to the rising sun, also identified as Re-Harakhty on the left vignette, and to the setting sun, Atum on the right vignette.
On the obverse, the deceased, now resuscitated, shares the divine aspect and golden skin colour of Re-Horakhty and Atum, whose divine flesh was made of gold. On the reverse, Isis and Nephthys have the green skin of Osiris, indicative of his regenerative power; the djed-pillar symbolises the spine and ribs of the funerary god.