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Funerary cone of Aanen
Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18–20
1550–1070 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Pottery
Dimensions
Height x diameter: 6.4 x 8.6 cm (2 1/2 x 3 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession NumberRES.72.304
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements
Catalogue Raisonné
Davies & MacAdam 172
DescriptionFunerary cone of buff clay with tapering cone element broken off and missing. Head end carries a stamp, somewhat faded, with three divided columns of hieroglyphic text that identifies the owner as "One honored by Osiris, the Scribe Aanen" (imAxy xr Wsir sS Aann).
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 another example of this tomb owner and stamp see: Res.72.314.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #172.
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 another example of this tomb owner and stamp see: Res.72.314.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #172.
ProvenanceProbably from 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)
(Accession Date: June 28, 1872)