Origin: Egypt
Circa: 100 BC to 50 AD
Dimensions: 19.5" (49.5cm) high x 23" (58.4cm) wide
Collection: Egyptian
Style: Ptolemaic/Roman Period
Medium: Sandstone
The sunk relief representation doubtless derives from a temple located somewhere in Upper Egypt because of the sandstone from which it is sculpted and because of its subject matter and the contents of its accompanying inscriptions in hieroglyphs. Those hieroglyphs belong to the Ptolemaic tradition of signs which number between 7,000 and 8,000 and which represent a tenfold increase over the number in use during the earlier, more classical periods of ancient Egypt�s history.
The individual to the far left is to be identified as a pharaoh, so indicated by the bottom half of a cartouche preserved in the field in front of his head. This cartouche appears to be devoid of hieroglyphs. Such empty cartouches are routinely encountered in the preserved decoration of the temples of the Graeco-Roman Period in Upper Egypt, although the reason for their lack of hieroglyphs has yet to be satisfactorily explained. This pharaoh is depicted bare-chested. He wears a kilt with a pointed apron, broad collar, false beard, and Crown of Action fronted by a uraeus. These accessories are not ornamented with linear detail, and that absence of detail characterizes the scene as a whole. The pharaoh holds a hes-jar in each hand, one with a rounded top, the other with a T-shape top from which issue streams of water flowing onto a small offering table placed in front of the dais on which a god is enthroned. The two columns of hieroglyphs in front of this pharaoh may be rendered into English as, �Making a libation of cool water to his father, the individual who created him; may he be granted eternal life.� It is interesting to note that the hieroglyphs for �his father� are oriented with the seated deity rather than with the pharaoh, as are the other signs in these two columns. This is a subtle detail which reveals the consummate planning with which the relief was designed.

Antiquities
Ancient Egyptian