Stela of Two Deified Men(?)
Description
Object Label: The small figure in the lower right is a pharaoh offering to four small Egyptian deities and two large figures holding bows and signs of life, probably deified humans. It has been suggested they are the brothers Pedisi and Pihor, Nubian princes deified after death. They were the major focus of the cult in the Temple of Dendur, a site in lower Nubia where Egyptian deities were also worshiped. The Dendur Temple was built between 23 and 10 B.C., when Egypt controlled lower Nubia and the Emperor Augustus was pharaoh of Egypt. The style of the stela's figures, their facial features, and the bold carving and heavy forms are related to many works in Egypt of late Ptolemaic (first century B.C.) and Roman times. However, this style is also found in contemporary works from Egyptian-controlled lower Nubia, and the stela is of Nubian sandstone. Catalogue description: Cultures Egyptian, Nubian Caption: Egyptian; Nubian. Stela of Two Deified Men(?), late 1st century B.C.E.–early 1st century C.E.. Sandstone, 34 5/16 x 31 7/16 x 4 5/16 in. (87.2 x 79.9 x 10.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 76.8.
AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06
Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A stone relief depicting two figures presenting offerings to seated deities.
The artifact is a stone relief carved with figures in typical Egyptian profile. Two male figures are shown facing left, carrying offerings towards seated deities. The figures are highly stylized, with detailed headdresses and kilts. The composition is balanced with symmetry around the central deities, showcasing traditional Egyptian artistic conventions.
Connections
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 76.8 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3852 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.