Stela for Imen-hetep

In the New Kingdom a new type of stelae surmounted by a triangular upper section became popular. The pediment rests on a lip decorated with a winged sun disk, a protective symbol. The winged sun is flanked by inscriptions related to it. There are additional magical signs on the pediment: a vessel below three wavy lines symbolizing water, and a sun-disk. The lines are flanked by udjat eyes. The udjat eye, a conflation of the eye of a falcon and a human eye, was also regarded as a protective symbol: in the battle between Horus and the god Seth, the falcon-god’s eye was hurt but later healed. The rectangular tablet of the stela is framed on three sides by a border filled with an inscription. In the upper register we see Imen-hetep the royal scribe sacrificing to the seated gods Osiris and Imentet. The lower register shows Imen-hetep’s parents being venerated by their son, his wife and a small priest on the far right. The inscriptions between the figures contain prayers addressing various deities and record the names and titles of the persons depicted here. Not only the hieroglyphs but also the depictions themselves are executed in yellow paint to symbolize sunlight. © Regina Hölzl, Meisterwerke der Ägyptisch-Orientalischen Sammlung, Wien 2007.