THE FUNERARY STELA OF PTAHMES

Abstract

The current paper is concerned with the study and publication of a funerary stela of a man named Ptahmes, which was discovered in Heliopolis and specifically in the eastern area of Ain Shams. It is currently preserved in the magazine of cArab al-Hisn at Matariya under registration N°. 235. It is made of limestone without any traces of color. Despite being in a good condition, some missing parts are found in the upper half of the pyramidion, there are also some missing parts in the right lower corner and some abrasions in the upper register. The stela under consideration exhibits average quality of workmanship. It consists of two registers of incised engravings separated by a double horizontal line. The upper register contains a scene of Osiris-the only god in this stela- together with the stela’s owner Ptahmes to whom the stela is dedicated. The second register is occupied by a group of individuals, most of them are descendants of the same family: Ptahmes, his mother iry-r, his father pA-qd, and a woman in a mourning position whose identity has not yet been identified. This woman is the one who dedicated the stela for Ptahmes. The article discusses the stylistic features, hieroglyphic texts, and the religious aspects of the pyramidion, which tops the funerary stela and the symbols represented on it. The analysis of the scenes and texts proves with no doubt that, this stela could be dated to the New Kingdom and more precisely to the Ramesside Period.