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Introduction

The stela of Iy

This stela, a carved and painted composition on limestone, commemorates an official with the name Iy. It was probably once part of a wall in his tomb.

A funerary stela such as this was intended to make the name of the deceased live forever and symbolically provide him with offerings for eternity. It would have been seen by anyone visiting his tomb, but very few would have been able to understand the text. Only about one out of a hundred people in Ancient Egyptian could read hieroglyphs!

Acknowledgements

The stela is kept at the McManus art gallery and museum in Dundee, Scotland. The photograph was provided by curator Christina Donald. Analysis of the text is by Angela McDonald and Mark-Jan Nederhof, prepared using PhilologEg.

Context

Period

Iy lived in the first intermediate period, when Upper and Lower Egypt were divided. In that period, the artworks in Upper Egypt generally lacked the refinement of the Old Kingdom, yet possessed an original style with bright colors, as in the case of this stela.

Provenance

The stela is from the Mesheikh region in Naga ed-Deir, a necropolis on the east bank of the Nile, approximately 30 km downriver from Abydos, in the eighth nome of Upper Egypt.

Pointers

The stela was described on pp. 639-640 of:

Brovarski, Edward. The Inscribed Material of the FIP from Naga ed-Deir. 5 vols. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Chicago, 1989.

Also from Naga ed-Deir is the stela of Inheretnakht in the British Museum.

People

Iy

The name Iy is written in hieroglyphs twice. He wears a pleated wig, a broad collar and bracelets, and a pointed linen kilt tied at his waist. He holds a staff in his left hand, and in his right a sceptre symbolising his authority.

Family

His son, whose name Meniu is written above his head, looks like a smaller version of his father, Iy, but instead of a sceptre, Meniu holds the wings of a little bird: he’s still a child.

In most stelas from Naga ed-Deir, the deceased appears with his wife. This stela is unusual in that the main figure is represented with his son.

Also mentioned are his father, his mother, and his siblings. His mother, named Ibi, was part of the royal household; her honorary title ẖqrt-nswt literally means "king's ornament" and is freely translated as lady-of-the-court.

Servant

A servant is offering food to Iy.

Text

Prayer for offerings

⍰

ḥtp-ḏj-nswt Jnpw

An offering that the king gives to Anubis,

⍰

tp(j) ḏw=f jmj-wt

on his mountain, the one of embalming,

⍰

nb tꜣ[-ḏsr]

lord of the necropolis,

⍰

jmꜣḫ

(for) the revered one,

Titles

⍰

ḥꜣtj-ꜥ ḫtmw-bjtj smr wꜥtj

governor, royal seal-keeper, sole companion,

⍰

ẖrj-ḥbt jmꜣḫw ḫr nṯr ꜥꜣ

lector priest, revered before the great god,

⍰

nb pt Jy ḏd

lord of the sky, Iy, says:

Introduction

⍰

jnk mry n jt=f ḥsy n mwt=f

'I was one beloved of his father, praised by his mother,

⍰

mrrw sn{n}wt=f

and beloved of his siblings.

Appeal

⍰

j ꜥnḫw tp(j)w tꜣ

O living ones who are on earth,

⍰

mrrw ꜥnḫ msḏḏw ḫpt

who love life and who hate death,

⍰

swꜣ.tj=sn ḥr js pn jw=ṯn r ḏd

who will pass by this tomb, you will say:

Offerings

⍰

1000 m t ḥnqt 1000 kꜣ 1000 ꜣpd

"A thousand of bread and beer, a thousand of ox and a thousand of fowl,

⍰

1000 mnḫt 1000 m ḫt nb nfr

a thousand of linen and a thousand of all good things,

⍰

n ḥꜣtj-ꜥ jmꜣḫ

for the governor, the revered one,

⍰

ms.n ẖkrt-nswt Jbj

born of lady-of-the-court Ibi." '

His son

⍰

sꜣ=f mry=f n st-jb=f Mnjw

His beloved and favourite son Meniu.

Details

Still visible are traces of jrj-pꜥt ("nobleman"), which was corrected to jmꜣḫ ("the revered one").

Damage to the surface was filled up. Signs on that patch are not carved as they are elsewhere, but merely painted.

Whereas most carved signs were painted in, the deceased on the bier is not.

The sign for jmꜣḫ was partially painted inside the cavity, which shows the damage arose before the inscription was created. It is tempting to read the two visible reeds as the ending of jmꜣḫy, but the text makes better sense if we assume there was a third reed, lost through damage in modern times, to read a second occurrence of the name Iy.

In the name of the mother, the middle sign is difficult to make out, which may be the result of a correction or other prior damage to the surface. We read b for this sign, to form the name Ibi.

Vocabulary

ꜣpd n bird

j interjection o

jw particle

jmꜣḫw n revered one

jmj-wt n Imiut

the one of embalming (epithet of Anubis)

jnk pron I

js n tomb

jt n father

ꜥnḫ n life

ꜥnḫ n living one

pt n (f) sky

pn pron this

m prep in

of (partitive)

mwt n (f) mother

mnḫt n (f) linen

mrj v love

msj v give birth

msḏj v hate

n prep for

n adj of

nb adj all

nb n lord

nfr adj-verb good

nṯr ꜥꜣ n great god

r prep to

(with infinitive: future)

ḥꜣtj-ꜥ n governor

ḥnqt n (f) beer

ḥsj v praise

ḥtp-ḏj-nswt n offering that the king gives

ḫt n (f/m) thing

ḫꜣ num 1000

ḫpyt n (f) death

ḫr prep before

ḫtmw-bjtj n royal seal-keeper

ẖrj-ḥbt n lector priest

ẖkrt n (f) ornament

ẖkrt-nswt lady-of-the-court

sꜣ n son

swꜣj v pass

ḥr by (a place)

smr n friend

smr wꜥtj sole companion (fourth-highest rank at the royal court)

snwt n (f) siblings

st-jb n affection

n ~=f his favourite

kꜣ n ox

t n bread

tꜣ n earth

tꜣ-ḏsr n necropolis

tp adj on

ḏw n mountain

ḏd v say

Names

Jy Iy

Jbj Ibi

Jnpw Anubis

Mnjw Meniu

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