Stela of Amenemhat and Hemet
This vibrantly painted stela commemorates the husband and wife Amenemhat and Hemet in the youthful state they intended to inhabit for eternity. The table piled with food ensures their eternal nourishment and also reflects the practice of family and community members honoring their dead. A stela like this would have been placed in a public location where visitors could come to recite the inscriptions aloud.
Details
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- Limestone and pigment
- Dimensions
- 31.1 × 41.7 × 6.7 cm (12 1/4 × 16 3/8 × 2 5/8 in.)
- Origin
- Egypt
- Department
- Arts of Africa
- Holding institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image provider
- art-institute-chicago
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Museum Purchase Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
10 tags
Subject Matter
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Food Both · 98%
The composition prominently depicts offering tables and stands bearing vegetables, bread, meat, vessels, and other provisions; food is also listed among the catalog subjects.
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Text Both · 99%
Rows and columns of hieroglyphic signs occupy the top and right borders and the pictorial field; the catalog identifies these inscriptions as names, lineage, and prayers.
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Human Figure Both · 98%
The image clearly presents two large standing human figures along with smaller human figures within the offering scene, and the catalog identifies the commemorated people and their son.
Medium and Techniques
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Sculpture Both · 97%
The catalog classifies the work as sculpture and a stone architectural fragment; the image shows a carved slab with modeled figures and objects in relief.
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Relief Both · 99%
The catalog specifies raised and sunken relief, which is visible in the projecting figures, offerings, and recessed painted inscriptions.
Time Periods
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Ancient Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the stela to the Middle Kingdom, early Dynasty 12, about 1956–1877 BCE, and classifies it as ancient art.
Geographic Regions
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Egyptian Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog identifies the place of origin as Egypt and describes the work as Egyptian, probably from Thebes.
Materials
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Stone Both · 99%
The catalog identifies limestone as the medium, and the image shows a rigid stone slab with worn edges and a carved surface.
Cultural and Religious Styles
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Ancient Egypt Metadata · 99%
The work is identified as an Ancient Egyptian stela from the Middle Kingdom.
Antiquities, Artifacts, and Religious Objects
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Funerary/Commemorative Object Metadata · 97%
The catalog describes the stela as commemorating Amenemhat and Hemet and classifies its subject as funerary art.
Source & rights
Ancient Egyptian. Stela of Amenemhat and Hemet. The Art Institute of Chicago.