Stele of Nefersekekhy in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, November 2009

Funerary Stela of Nefersefekhy
limestone
height 0.58 meter
Nag' el-Deir (in Upper Egypt)
First Intermediate Period, circa 2175 BC

# 40-19-1

The few horizontal lines of this stela's text first contain an offering prayer to Anubis (the god of enbalming) and identify Nefersefekhy as an official and priest of the town of Thinis. Then, very much in character with the mood of the First Intermediate Period, Nefersefekhy boasts of his virtues and self-reliance which make him superior to all other Thinites of the same rank.

The vertical panels list the offerings made to Nefersefekhy who wears a priestly leopard skin over his linen clothing. The bold and eccentric form of the hieroglyphs, and the unrealistic style of the people and animals in the scene, are consistent with the provincial origins of this art work.

Text from the U. Penn. Museum label.