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Funerary cone of Amenhotep
Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18–20
1550–1070 B.C.
Object Place: Egypt, Likely from Thebes (Dra Abu el-Naga)
Medium/Technique
Pottery
Dimensions
Height x diameter: 5.3 x 8.3 cm (2 1/8 x 3 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession NumberRES.72.326
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements
Catalogue Raisonné
Davies & MacAdam 151
DescriptionFunerary cone fragment of reddish clay with tapering cone element broken off and missing. Head end retains faint traces of red wash/paint and an off-centered circular stamped impression of hieroglyphic text in an undivided field. The text identifies the owner as "One Honored by Osiris, Acolyte of Amen of the 4th phyle Amenhotep, True-of-Voice" (imAxy xr Wsir imy-st-a n Imn Hr sA 4-nw Imn-Htp 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.
For other examples of this tomb owner see: Res.72.325; Res.72.327; Res.72.328; Res.72.329; Res.72.330; 72.1812; 72.1813.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #151.
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.72.325; Res.72.327; Res.72.328; Res.72.329; Res.72.330; 72.1812; 72.1813.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #151.
ProvenanceProbably from Dra Abu el-Naga (Thebes). 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)