Stela of Amenemhat and Hemet
Middle Kingdom, early Dynasty 12, about 1956–1877 BCE
Medium
Limestone and pigment
Dimensions
31.1 × 41.7 × 6.7 cm (12 1/4 × 16 3/8 × 2 5/8 in.)
Classification
Stelae
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
127859
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This stela was colored with a mixture of pigment and tempera. First, however, it was sculpted in raised and sunken relief; only later were some of its surfaces embellished with black, brown, green, yellow, and white paint. It commemorates for all eternity a man named Amenemhat and his wife, Hemet. Before them are two offering tables stacked with food. Their son appears in the upper right at a smaller scale. In addition to the hieroglyphs in the field, a brief text also appears on the top and rig...
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....