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Funerary cone of Amenhotep
Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18
1550–1295 B.C.
Object Place: Egypt, Likely from Thebes (Dra Abu el-Naga)
Medium/Technique
Pottery
Dimensions
Height x diameter.: 5.1 x 8.3 cm (2 x 3 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession NumberRES.72.318
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements
Catalogue Raisonné
Davies & MacAdam 210
DescriptionFunerary cone fragment of reddish clay with tapering cone element broken off and missing. Head end carries a circular stamp with three divided columns of hieroglyphic text (somewhat off-centered, but whole text known from parallels) to identify the owner as "The Osiris Steward of Amen, High Priest of (Queen) Nefertari, Steward Amenhotep, True-of-Voice" (Wsir imy-r pr n Imn Hm-nTr tpy n nfri-try imy-r pr 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.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #210.
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 #210.
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)