A Middle Kingdom stela is a slab of stone, usually round-topped, set up in a tomb chapel or at a holy place like Abydos. Thousands survive, and most follow one plan. You already know its opening from The Offering Formula and its list of gifts from Bread, Beer and the Voice Offering. Now read it as a whole.
Key idea
Why it works
| Part | Typical words | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| formula | ḥtp-dj-nsw | an offering that the king gives |
| god | wsjr nb ḏdw nṯr ꜥꜣ nb ꜣbḏw | Osiris, lord of Busiris, the great god, lord of Abydos |
| or | jnpw tpj-ḏw=f nb tꜣ-ḏsr | Anubis, who is upon his mountain, lord of the sacred land |
| gifts | dj=f prt-ḫrw t ḥnqt kꜣ ꜣpd šs mnḫt ḫt nbt nfrt wꜥbt | that he may give an invocation offering of bread and beer, oxen and fowl, alabaster and linen, every good and pure thing |
| owner | n kꜣ n jmꜣḫy NN mꜣꜥ-ḫrw | for the ka of the revered one NN, true of voice |
Worked example: The gift line
- dj=f: the sḏm=f of rdj, a wish after the god's name (What the sḏm=f Means).
- prt-ḫrw "an invocation offering"; t "bread", ḥnqt "beer".
Answer: "That he may give an invocation offering of bread and beer."
Worked example: The owner
- n "for", kꜣ "the ka", then the genitive n "of".
- jmꜣḫy "the revered one", a common title of the honored dead.
Answer: "For the ka of the revered one."
Below or beside the text there is often a picture of the owner seated before a table of offerings, sometimes with his family (Families on Stelae). The words and the picture belong together: the bread and beer named in the text are the ones heaped on the table.
Common mistake