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Funerary cone of Userhat
Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18
1550–1295 B.C.
Object Place: Egypt, Thebes (Dra Abu el-Naga), Possibly tomb 150
Medium/Technique
Pottery
Dimensions
Height x diameter.: 4.5 x 7.5 cm (1 3/4 x 2 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession Number72.1774
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements
Catalogue Raisonné
Davies & MacAdam 255
DescriptionFunerary cone fragment of reddish clay with majority of cone element broken off and missing; traces of pinkish paint. Circular stamp on the head with hieroglyphic text identifying the owner as "Overseer of the Cattle of Amen, Userhat" (imy-r iHw n Imn Wsir-HAt). Edges and part of text somewhat battered.
Funerary cones were components of a frieze, inserted above the doors of private tombs, particularly in the Theban region. They have been variously interpreted as: name-plates of sorts to identify the tomb owner, decorative memorials, boundary markers for a tomb, dummy bread loaves or meat offerings, symbolic roof beams, or (for the visible circular head) depictions of the sun disk.
For another example of the same owner see: Res.72.281.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #255.
Funerary cones were components of a frieze, inserted above the doors of private tombs, particularly in the Theban region. They have been variously interpreted as: name-plates of sorts to identify the tomb owner, decorative memorials, boundary markers for a tomb, dummy bread loaves or meat offerings, symbolic roof beams, or (for the visible circular head) depictions of the sun disk.
For another example of the same owner see: Res.72.281.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #255.
ProvenanceProbably from Thebes (Dra Abu el-Naga), possibly tomb 150. By 1836: Robert Hay Collection, Linplum, Scotland; 1863: to his son, Robert James Alexander Hay; 1868-1872: Way Collection, Boston (purchased by Samuel A. Way through London dealers Rollin and Feuardent, 27 Haymarket); 1872: given to the MFA by Samuel's son, C. Granville Way.
(Accession date: June 28, 1872)
(Accession date: June 28, 1872)