Stela of Pakhaas
Description
Object Label: The central vignette here features a unique combination of two types of stela illustration. Normally the deceased is shown offering to Osiris, lord of the underworld, or to another deity. Alternatively, the deceased and his or her spouse receive offerings from their family. At first glance, the stela seems to fit the second category. The dead person, Pakhaas, accompanied by his wife, Nesihor, who stands behind him holding a sistrum, or rattle, enjoys the oblations of his son, Pakhy (a nickname, in effect, Pakhaas, Jr.). This scene, however, is hardly conventional. Pakhy’s censer and Nesihor’s sistrum rarely appear in scenes of offerings to humans, and Pakhaas is not depicted as a mortal. The small image of the god Osiris that sits on his knees suggests that Pakhaas has become that god. Pakhy thus becomes Horus, who offers to his dead father, Osiris, and Nesihor is Isis. Caption: Stela of Pakhaas, 2nd–1st century B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 14 3/4 x 10 5/8 x 1 5/8 in. (37.5 x 27 x 4.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 71.37.2. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
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 carved and painted Egyptian stela depicting a seated figure with offerings and attendants.
The artifact is a rectangular stela with a rounded top, showcasing a central seated figure, likely a deity or a noble, receiving offerings from two attendants. The scene is intricately carved and painted using red and green hues. Multiple rows of hieroglyphs are inscribed above and below the main scene, featuring divine and ritual symbols. The composition is typical of New Kingdom funerary stelae, with emphasis on honorific rituals and afterlife beliefs.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 71.37.2 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3801 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.