This beautifully preserved round-topped stela dates back to the New Kingdom’s 18th Dynasty (c. 1550 to 1300 BCE) before the reign of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten). It depicts a seated couple receiving offerings, with their daughter at their feet. The man wears a white kilt and holds a staff of authority, which are important symbols of his high status. Both adults wear wigs and jewelry typical of elite fashion at the time. To the right of them is an offering table and a detailed list of offerings.

Above and below the central scene are inscriptions, including a deceased’s wish to visit the living and see the sunlight and a Htp-di-nswt offering formula invoking deities to ensure provisions in the afterlife. In front of the couple is a caption smA xt, meaning “partaking of the offerings”. Hieroglyphic inscriptions are composed in traditional Egyptian. They are rendered in sunken relief and painted in blue against a white background.

Traditional Egyptian (or Égyptien de tradition) is a preserved form of Middle Egyptian (an older, classical form) used in later religious and ritual texts, especially after it was no longer spoken.

Part 1 – UPPER REGISTER

The lunette at the top shows a pair of wDAt eyes with a Sn ring in between (higher position of the Sn sign is usual of early New Kingdom stelae) and an iab vessel below it. The upper register has nine columns of hieroglyphs, which are to be read from right to left.

Text Breakdown

prt m tA (r) mAA itn
Coming forth from the earth (in order to) see the sun disk

prt coming forth – infinitive of the verbpri“to come forth” / “to emerge”

Infinitive is often used in headings – as a caption to a painted scene. pri is a verb with a “weak” final consonant (3ae-inf.). This category of verbs shows a -t ending in the infinitive.

m tA from the earth – adverbial phrase consisting of a preposition m“in” / “from” and a noun tA“land” / “earth”

(r) mAA (in order to) see – mAAis a geminating verb (2ae-gem.) – a verb with the doubling last consonant (here written with a compressed AAsign). This category of verbs doesn’t have the-tending in the infinitive. The same phrase occurs in other inscriptions from the same period as r mAAso we can assume that the preposition ris simply omitted here.

r followed by an infinitive is used to indicate purpose (“in order to…”). Grammatically, it is also possible that this is another bare infinitive in a sequence (“emerging from the earth, seeing the sun disc”), but the logical connection between these two clauses is one of purpose, with the second action serving as the intended goal of the first.

itn the sun disc – the object of the infinitive mAA; The word for “sun disc” is traditionally written with the simple sun determinative , and rarely with the combination of sun and rays of sunshine (N8 – determinative for “sunshine” / “radiance”) which we see here. It is important to note that this inscription predates the Amarna period and should not be confused with the spelling used for the god Aten. Also, notice that almost every n sign in this text is written with a simple horizontal line , instead of the zigzag water line .

in sS Hsb (n) iHw Apdw DHwty-nfr mAa-xrw
by the scribe, counter (of) cattle and fowl
Djehutynefer, true of voice

in by – acts as the English preposition “by” (of agent); a more traditional spelling of in is . New Kingdom inscriptions sometimes use the red crown of Lower Egypt instead of the water sign for n.

in is used to introduce the agent of the infinitive (the one performing the action). This usage occurs only with nouns; when the agent is a pronoun, it follows the infinitive directly, without in.

sS scribe (a profession) – sometimes written with a seated man determinative . A more correct reading of this word might besXAw.

Hsb accountant (a profession) – an agent noun derived from the verb Hsb “to count” – lit. “one who counts” / “counter”.

iHw Apdw cattle (and) fowl – plural of the nouns iH“bovine” and Apd“bird”.

DHwty-nfr Djehutynefer (name) – probably subject + stativenfr(.w), meaning “(the god) Thoth is beautiful/good/perfect”.

subject + stative expresses a state or a condition of a subject. Since Djehuty (or Thoth) is a masculine singular noun, the stative form that follows takes the masculine singular ending .w. This ending is almost never written and we usually don’t transliterate it in names. Djehutynefer thus literally means “Thoth, in a state of being beautiful”.

mAa-xrw true of voice

Dd n=f sSw mAa-xrw xr nTr aA
called Seshu, true of voice,
before the Great God

Dd n=f called – passive participle with a pronoun that refers back to the modified noun (Djehutynefer).

passive participle of Dd, followed by a dative ( n=f) is used to introduce someone’s nickname. Dd n=f literally means “(the one) said to him (Seshu)”.

sSw Seshu (name) – phonetically spelled and ending with the determinative for a person of high rank .

mAa-xrw true of voice

xr nTr aA before the Great God – adverbial phrase consisting of a preposition xr and a noun phrase nTr aA (noun “god” with the adjective “great” following it and agreeing in gender and number). The Great God is an epithet that usually stands for Osiris in a funerary context.

preposition xr can be translated “before” or “near”. It’s often used when expressing a relationship with a deity or a person of a higher ranking, such as the king.

Hmt=f nbt pr mrt=f bnbw mAat-xrw
his wife, the lady of the house,
his beloved, Benbu, true of voice.

Hmt=f his wife

nbt pr lady of the house (a title) – used to designate the principal wife

mrt=f his beloved – a relativesDm=f; is the alternative writing of for the mrbiliteral.

This is a relative form (or a relative clause with sDm=f). Lit. “(the one) whom he loves”

bnbw Benbu (name) – this is a very uncommon name – possibly foreign; other objects belonging to Djehutynefer called Seshu show different variants, such as: bnmb and bim.

mAat-xrw true of voice (feminine form)

Part 2 – LOWER REGISTER

Part 2 coming soon!

bibliography:

• Allen, James P. (2014). Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 3rd Edition. Cambridge University Press.
• Museo Egizio: Collezione online – Stele dello scriba contabile del bestiame e del pollame nel tempio di Ammone Djehutynefer detto Seshu, e di sua moglie, la “signora della casa” Benbu – https://collezioni.museoegizio.it/en-GB/material/Cat_1638/
• Paksi, Julianna (2025). A Case Study on Intertextuality and Textual Transmission from the Mid-Eighteenth Dynasty Theban Necropolis. ZÄS 2025; 152(1): 58–76. De Gruyter.
• https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/5/person/3119
• https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/5/person/3120

museo egizio new kingdom offering formula stela traditional egyptian