05 | Stela of Panmaaf

Here is a beautifully decorated wooden stela, an upright monument that can be incised with texts or images.

Many stelae have been discovered, dating as far back as the Third Millennium BCE, surviving in a range of shapes, sizes and materials.

They were used in many ways, from tomb markers and commemorative monuments to boundary markers.

They could also be a means of worshipping the gods – known as a votive stela.

This is an example of a tomb stela.

Although it is about 3,000 years old, you can still see pigment on its surface – green symbolising new life, growth, and regeneration and blue possibly representing creation and rebirth.

The hieroglyph of the blue-sky arches over the top of the stela, giving birth to the red winged-sun disc.

See the long sceptres at either side holding up the sky?

These are the so-called ‘was’ sceptres, symbols of divine power on earth.

The sceptres enclose the main scene, with the left half being dominated by a seated, bird-headed figure: Re-Horakhty.

He is a combination of Re, the sun god, and Horus, the sky god, and so he is depicted with the head of a falcon and the Re sun-disc as a headdress.

This god of the rising sun sits on his throne in front of a table laden with offerings of fruit and vegetables.

The inscription above invokes him as Re-Horkhty, ‘great god, lord of heaven’and ensures that his worshipper – the person who commissioned this votive stela – enjoys bountiful offerings in the afterlife. This worshipper is on the right side of the stela.

He is Pamaaf, a ‘wab’ or ‘purifying’ priest, dressed in the most stylish outfit of his time – a loose, transparent tunic over a tight white kilt.

His head is adorned with a band, a closed lotus flower and a so-called festive cone.

For many years, despite their many artistic representations, the very existence of festive cones was questioned.

Some thought they were scented lumps of ointment designed to be melted, then used to perfume the body.

Others believed the cones were part of a burial ritual, entombed with their wearers to confer fortune or fertility in the afterlife.

A few years ago, physical evidence was discovered at the ancient city of Amarna, where two graves were excavated with an individual in each, both with a cone of wax still preserved on their heads.

Yet the purpose of these cones cannot be clearly determined beyond having some kind of festive function.

This stela shows that both men and women wore them, and we also see them elsewhere in banqueting scenes.

A plausible interpretation is that the cones symbolised regeneration and rebirth, and indeed, Pamaaf does look quite refreshed as he pours a libation over the offering table to Re-Horakhty.