Cylinder Seal with Offering Scene and Hieroglyphs

Description

<p>This seal depicts a figure seated, arms extended, in front of an offering table topped with bread. The seal is inscribed with early hieroglyphic signs that surround the figure. Some signs are identifiable and may indicate the figure’s name to be Innet. This scene type with the deceased sitting at an offering table is included in funerary stelae and on tomb walls throughout ancient Egyptian history. The seal is pierced lengthwise so as to be worn as a personal ornament that acted as both a marker of status and a protective charm. This seal dates to the beginning of the Egyptian state during the First Dynasty or the early Second Dynasty (ca. 2960-2649 BCE). Administrative cylinder seals also existed during this early period, however based on the known provenance of many of these seal-types—non-royal tombs—this seal’s function was most likely to help maintain the deceased’s funerary cult rather than to act as an administrative tool.</p><p>For the latest information about this object, <cite><a href='https://purl.thewalters.org/art/42.167' rel='external'>Cylinder Seal with Offering Scene and Hieroglyphs</a></cite>, visit the Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum.</p>

Inscriptions (2)