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Funerary cone of Amenemhat and Sat-Amen

Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18
1550–1295 B.C.

Medium/Technique Pottery
Dimensions Height x diameter: 6.6 x 7 cm (2 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession NumberRES.72.303
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsArchitectural elements

Catalogue Raisonné Davies & MacAdam 110
DescriptionFunerary cone fragment of red clay with tapering cone element broken off and missing; heavy remnants of red paint on head end, which also carries a circular stamp with hieroglyphic text arranged in four divided columns.

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.72.305; Res.72.280; 72.1782; 72.1807, 72.1809.

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


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