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Funerary cone of Amenhotep and Qedetmeret
Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18–20
1550–1070 B.C.
Object Place: Egypt, Possibly from Thebes (Dra Abu el-Naga)
Medium/Technique
Pottery
Dimensions
Height x diameter: 2.8 x 5.6 cm (1 1/8 x 2 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession Number72.1792
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements
Catalogue Raisonné
Davies & MacAdam 192
DescriptionFunerary cone fragment of reddish clay with tapering cone end sawed off and missing; traces of white priming. Head bears a square stamp with hieroglyphic text in three undivided columns identfying the owners as "Overseer of Craftsmen of Min and of Isis, Amenhotep, True-of-Voice and his sister, Lady of the House Qedetmeret" (imy-r Hmwt n Mnw n Ast Imn-Htp mAa xrw snt.f nb.t-pr Qdt-mrt).
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 same owners see: 72.1790, 72.1791.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #192.
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 same owners see: 72.1790, 72.1791.
Davies and Macadam, A Corpus of Inscribed Egyptian Funerary Cones (1957), type #192.
ProvenanceProbably from Thebes (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)