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Funerary cone of Denreg
Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18–20
1550–1070 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Pottery
Dimensions
Height x diameter: 4.1 x 8.6 cm (1 5/8 x 3 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession Number72.1786
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements
Catalogue Raisonné
Davies & MacAdam 45
DescriptionFunerary cone fragment of reddish clay with majority of tapering cone element missing; traces of red paint. Circular stamp on head carries four columns of hieroglyphic text identifying the owner.
Translation of text:
"One honored
by Osiris, Chief Wab-priest
Denreg
True-of-Voice."
Transliteration:
imAxy
xr Wsir wab-Hry
Dn-rg
MAa xrw
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.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #45.
Translation of text:
"One honored
by Osiris, Chief Wab-priest
Denreg
True-of-Voice."
Transliteration:
imAxy
xr Wsir wab-Hry
Dn-rg
MAa xrw
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.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #45.
ProvenanceBy 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.