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Funerary cone of Seneb
Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Thutmose I or later
1504–1295 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Pottery
Dimensions
Height x diameter: 3.2 x 7.3 cm (1 1/4 x 2 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession NumberRES.72.290
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsArchitectural elements
Catalogue Raisonné
Davies & MacAdam 372
DescriptionFunerary cone of reddish clay with tapering cone element broken off and missing. Head end carries a circular stamp (quite indistinct) with hieroglyphic text (very faint) in undivided field. Text identifies the owner as "First Prophet of Aakheperkare (King Thutmose I), Seneb." Small fragments broken away from edge.
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 #372.
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 #372.
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 8, 1872)
(Accession Date: June 8, 1872)