Grave stele of Nemti-ui
The grave stele of Nemti-ui (Nmtj.wj) belongs to the Egyptian collection of the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum in Hildesheim (inventory number: PM 1875). It comes from the early 1st Intermediate Period around 2100 BC. BC, the transition period between the Old and the Middle Kingdom .
Location
The stele was acquired by Wilhelm Pelizaeus in 1914 and came to Hildesheim in the same year. This emerges from the freight documents and letters from Wilhelm Pelizaeus. Cult topographical references to the name formation of the Nemti-ui point to an origin of the piece from Achmim , the capital of the 9th Upper Egyptian district , which lies on the eastern bank of the Nile. The local / Gaugott Min was worshiped here. The grave stele was probably attached in the cult chamber of a rock grave . Formal, stylistic and orthographic criteria ensure that the stele is dated to the early 1st interim period.
size
The stele is 40.5 cm high, 58 cm wide and 5.4 cm deep.
Description and meaning of the grave stele
The completely preserved grave stele consists of a rectangular limestone slab that is smoothed on the front and covered with a fine layer of stucco. The edges of the stele are very uneven and the back is roughly hewn. The images and texts are painted on and the colors still largely show their original intensity. A typical food offering scene is shown. It shows the royal field chief, the grave lord Nemti-ui and his wife Hepi. Both sit across from each other at the dining table. The right arm of the Nemti-ui and the left arm of Hepi are stretched out towards the table, on which there is a right-facing group and a left-facing group of reed-leaf hieroglyphs instead of bread. This picture icon, derived from the Egyptian word Sechet "field", indicates that the harvest of an entire field should be available for the sacrificial bread. There are two tall jugs under the table. This scene symbolically ensures the supply of the deceased and his wife in the afterlife and not only with bread and beer, but with all the food that the deceased desires in the afterlife. The couple sit in an upright, dignified posture on low-backed chairs with big cat-shaped legs. There is a chest under each of the chairs. Nemti-ui wears a short white apron and a panther skin , which refers to his function as a Sem priest in the funeral ritual . The animal's head appears as a pendant on its chest and the long tail hangs down well above the knees to the ankles. The black wig, a short ceremonial beard, a multi-row neck collar , a knot amulet over the shoulder and bracelets complete his clothing. His left hand is clenched in front of his chest and holds a ribbon amulet. The wife of the grave lord wears a calf-length, tight-fitting white strappy robe, decorative ribbons on the wrists and ankles and a necklace. With her right hand she holds a lotus flower to her nose.
The three-line inscription above the two figures contains sacrificial prayers, which indicates that the king guarantees the god of the dead Osiris food to be sacrificed and that he therefore provides for the deceased and his wife Hepi in the realm of the dead. The two vertical inscriptions behind Nemti-ui contain the dedicatory inscription of the sons Tjemzi and Iti, who donated this grave stele for their father.
At first glance, the observer of the grave stele notices that the canon of proportions, which was common in the Old Kingdom, is no longer used. The legs of the two figures are very long in relation to the body and the knees are very pointed; the eyes are very narrow, the noses long and the lips pushed forward. Particularly noticeable is the left hand of the Nemti-ui, which is twisted outwards, with clearly marked fingernails. All these characteristics point to the artistic epoch of the 1st Intermediate Period (2216–2025 BC).
literature
- Arne Eggebrecht : The Egyptian Collection / Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim. von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1579-1 , p. 3.
- Arne Eggebrecht: The Old Empire, Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim. (= Catalog / Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim. Vol. 2). von Zabern, Mainz 1986, ISBN 3-8053-0936-8 , p. 112.
- Karl Martin: Reliefs of the Old Kingdom and related monuments (= Corpus Antiquitatum Aegyptiacarum. Ed. By the Pelizaeus Museum Hildesheim. Part 3, delivery 8). von Zabern, Mainz 1980, pp. 12-17.
- Jürgen Brinks: The grave stele of the Nmtj.wj and the Hpj in Hildesheim. In: Göttinger Miscellen . Volume 28, 1978, pp. 25-33.
- Albert Ippel , Günther Roeder : The monuments of the Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim. Curtius, Berlin 1921, p. 52, color plate 4 (p. 32).