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Funerary cone of Djehuty-nefer
Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18–20
1550–1070 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Pottery
Dimensions
Height x diameter: 8.3 x 8.9 cm (3 1/4 x 3 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession NumberRES.72.286
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements
Catalogue Raisonné
Davies & MacAdam 14
DescriptionFunerary cone fragment of reddish clay with tapering cone element missing and traces of red paint/wash. Circular stamp (rather indistinct) on head end has five divided columns fo hieroglyphic text identifying the owner as "One honored by Osiris, Scribe of Cattle & Fowl Accounting in the House of Amen, Djehuty-nefer, True-of-Voice, called Seshu (or Senu), True-of-Voice" (imaH Hr Wsir/sS Hsb-iHw Apdw m pr/Imn Dhwty-nfr mAa-Xrw nb/Dd.n.f sSw [or snw]/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 #14.
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 #14.
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.
(Accession Date: June 28, 1872)
(Accession Date: June 28, 1872)