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Funerary cone of Amenemhat and Sat-Amen

Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18
1550–1295 B.C.
Object Place: Egypt, Thebes (Dra Abu el-Naga), Possibly tomb A.1

Medium/Technique Pottery
Dimensions Height x diameter: 5 x 6.3 cm (1 15/16 x 2 1/2 in.)
Credit Line Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession Number72.1800
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsArchitectural elements

Catalogue Raisonné Davies & MacAdam 110
DescriptionFunerary cone fragment of buff clay with majority of tapering cone end broken off and missing; traces of red paint. Circular stamp on head with raised hieroglyphic text in four columns identifying the owner.

Translation of text:
"Ka-priest
Amenemhat
(and) his wife, Lady of the House Sat-Amen,
True-of-Voice with the great god."

Transliteration:
Hm-kAy
Imn-m-HAt
Hm.f nbt-pr SA.t-Imn
mAa.t xrw xr nTr aA

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 other examples of this tomb owner see: Res.72.302; Res.72.303; Res.72.305; Res.72.280; 72.1782; 72.1807; 72.1809.

Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #110.

ProvenanceProbably from Thebes (Dra Abu el-Naga), possibly tomb A.1. 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)