Fragment of a Stela in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2018

Title: Fragment of a Stela

Date: 4th century

Geography: Made in Kharga Oasis, Byzantine Egypt

Culture: Coptic

Medium: Wood, paint

Dimensions: Overall: 16 1/2 x 11 x 2 in. (41.9 x 27.9 x 5.1 cm)

Classification: Woodwork-Miscellany

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1931

Accession Number: 31.8.2


In his left hand, the man holds an ancient Egyptian musical instrument called a sistrum. At his side is a vine and above his shoulder is a small hawk standing on an altar. The painting is done in two shades of purple (darker possibly originally black) on a white plaster background.

This piece might be a re-used panel from a Roman-Egyptian coffin. The motifs on the panel, the hawk and sistrum, were used in the ancient Egyptian religion. The panel was sawed down the middle before being put in burial chamber, and the left side was never recovered. The re-use of the traditional Egyptian objects in Christian contexts was a popular practice in the Late Antique/Byzantine period in Egypt.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/477752