03 | Stela of Panmaaf

[flapping]

AHMOSE: Come on! You’re so slow! CLEO: You know your wings give you a distinct advantage, right?

Whoa! Ahmose, check this out! AHMOSE: Whoa!

CLEO: Right? What is this? It’s incredible!

AHMOSE: Yeah, it’s a stela. CLEO: What’s a stela?

AHMOSE: It’s a picture, often painted on a block of stone or wood – like this one –

usually used to remember someone who has died.

They stand upright, are set into walls, or even carved into a cliff.

They’re often placed near a person’s tomb to remember them.

CLEO: Ooh, in this stela, it looks like someONE is giving someTHING to some BIRD.

Oh, sorry, no offence.

CLEO: Meow? AHMOSE: The someONE is a priest called Pamaaf, who is wearing very fancy clothes.

The someTHING is a special liquid he is pouring over a table of gifts to show how important they are.

The some uh … BIRD is actually Re-Horakhty, a combination of two gods –

Horus, the sky god, who has a hawk head, and Re, the sun god.

CLEO: Is that red circle above Re-Horakhty’s head the sun?

AHMOSE: That’s right, it’s a sun disc, which he’s wearing a bit like a hat.

Gods can do that sort of thing.

CLEO: Ah! I like how the painting style is a bit like a cartoon and it’s so colourful.

It’s got blue, green, red, black and white.

AHMOSE: Ancient Egyptians used those colours a lot in their art and monuments.

CLEO: Why is Pamaaf giving gifts to a god? AHMOSE: The idea is, if he gives all those gifts on the table, then he will be treated well in the afterlife.

CLEO: The afterlife? You mean the place where the ancient Egyptians believed they would go after they die?

AHMOSE: That’s right! They believed it was a place of peace and happiness.

CLEO: I’m getting a sudden urge to knock all those gifts off the table. AHMOSE: No touching, Cleo!

CLEO: [sighs] It’s a cat thing!

AHMOSE: No touching! Besides, we’ve snuck in here, so we need to be quiet. CLEO: Meow!

AHMOSE: It’s not just the things on the table that are being given.

All those little pictures above Pamaaf, that’s actually a list of all the things

he’s going to give Re-Horakhty.

CLEO: Wait, I only just noticed. Around the picture, a bit like a frame, they look like walking sticks or something?

AHMOSE: Oh yeah, well spotted.

They’re called, wait for it: sceptres of power! [echoes] They’re fancy staffs, holding up the sky sign.

The sign has another sun disc in it, there, at the top of the stela.

This is a visual way of showing the picture is of a religious scene.

CLEO: That’s so interesting.

AHMOSE: Should we see what’s next? CLEO: Great idea.

[footsteps] AHMOSE: Hey! Wait for me!

[flapping]