Stele of Memi
Type:
Funerary monument and ornaments
Year:
Middle Kingdom (1987-1640 B.C.)
Material and technique:
Painted limestone
Origin:
From Middle Egypt, from a mastaba in the Memphis necropolis (?)
Inventory:
Inv. MB 18
This is a false-door stele with the lintel jutting out on top. This particular type of funerary stele was usually placed between the offerings chamber and the burial chamber. At the center is the classical offerings scene, with the dead woman shown standing, her left hand on her breast. In front of her is the offerings table, with slices of bread, lettuce, meat and other food. Inscriptions on the sides of the stele identify the deceased as “Memi.”
Masterpieces of the hall
The hall
FUNERARY RELIEFS
Nearly all the reliefs in the Barracco Museum’s collection belong to the funerary sphere.
They come from a type of tomb, the mastaba (from the Arabic word for bench), which was especially characteristic of Old Kingdom necropolises.
