This beautifully preserved round-topped stela (Cat. 1638) dates back to the early 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom (c. 1550-1300 BCE) and depicts a seated couple – Djehutynefer 
called Seshu 
and his wife Benbu 
receiving offerings. Their daughter Nefertari 
stands at their feet holding a lotus flower and a mirror. 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. In front of the group is a caption 
smA xt, meaning “partaking of the offerings”.
Above and below the central scene are inscriptions in Traditional Egyptian, including a deceased’s wish to go out and see the sun disc and a 
Htp-di-nswt offering formula invoking deities to ensure provisions in the afterlife. Hieroglyphs are rendered in sunk relief and painted in blue against a white background.
Traditional Egyptian (or Égyptien de tradition) is a later written form of Egyptian that intentionally preserves many features of Classical Egyptian (Middle Egyptian), especially in religious, funerary, and monumental texts. By this period, it was no longer the everyday spoken language, but it remained an important written and ritual tradition.
What makes this stela particularly interesting is that the tomb it came from has been lost. It has been tentatively linked to TT A6, a rock-cut tomb at Dra Abu el-Naga in Thebes, which has also disappeared. But the identification is uncertain: although the owner of TT A6 was named Djehutynefer (which was a common name at the time), we cannot be sure that he was the same Djehutynefer as the man shown on this stela, since the surviving names and titles do not match clearly enough.
Fortunately, several other objects help us piece together his family: another stela in Museo Egizio in Turin (Cat. 1639) was dedicated by his son Mahu 
, a double statue of Djehutynefer and his wife is now in the Louvre (A55/A56), and a sandstone door jamb in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA 30.6.43) also depicts the couple. Funerary cones (Louvre E 19977 Bis, E 19978 Bis, Davies n. 397) even preserve the name of his father, the scribe Mesu 
. Scattered across museums today, these objects offer rare glimpses of a tomb and a family whose story would otherwise have been lost.
Part 1 – UPPER REGISTER
We can now turn to the stela itself, beginning at the very top with its lunette (the rounded top portion of a stela). Here a pair of 
wDAt eyes flank a 
Sn ring, with an image of 
iab vessel below. The higher position of the Sn sign is typical of early New Kingdom stelae. The upper register contains nine columns of hieroglyphs, which are read from right to left.
Reading the inscription
prt m tA (r) mAA itn
Coming forth from the earth (in order to) see the sun disk
prt coming forth – infinitive of the verb pri “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 – 
mAA is a geminating verb (2ae-gem.) – a verb with the doubling last consonant (here written with a compressed 
AA sign). This category of verbs doesn’t have the -t ending in the infinitive. The same phrase occurs in other inscriptions from the same period as 
r mAA so we can assume that the preposition 
r is 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 (profession) – sometimes written with a seated man determinative 
. A more correct reading of this word might besXAw.
Hsb accountant (profession) – an agent noun derived from the verb 
Hsb “to count” – lit. “one who counts” / “counter”.
iHw Apdw livestock (and) fowl – plural of the nouns 
iH “bovine” and 
Apd “bird”.
DHwty-nfr Djehutynefer (name) – probably subject + stative nfr(.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 who is 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 household (a title) – a woman who manages a household / an estate
mrt=f his beloved – a relative sDm=f; 
is the alternative writing of 
for the mr biliteral.
This is a relative form (or a relative clause with sDm=f). Lit. “(the one) whom he loves”
bnbw Benbu (name) – other objects belonging to Djehutynefer called Seshu show different variants, such as: 
bnmb and 
bim.
mAat-xrw true of voice – feminine form with a -t ending
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.
- Manniche, Lise (1988). Lost Tombs: A Study of Certain Eighteenth Dynasty Monuments in the Theban Necropolis. London and New York: Kegan Paul International.
- https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/5/person/3119
- https://pnm.uni-mainz.de/5/person/3120
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