Fragment of a Stela of Neferhotep (New Kingdom, mid-Dynasty 19, about 1240-1195 BCE): Artwork and History

Fragment of a Stela of Neferhotep (New Kingdom, mid-Dynasty 19, about 1240-1195 BCE) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Egyptian; probably Theban Tomb 216, Deir el-Medina, Egypt.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The hieroglyphs at the top of this stela (commemorative stone) fragment help identify the man depicted as Neferhotep, a foreman of the workers who built and decorated the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes. Neferhotep, who is finely dressed in pleated white garments, raises his hands before him in a gesture of adoration toward the deity, who would have been depicted in the upper portion of the stone. Stelae such as this one allowed nonroyal Egyptians to demonstrate their devotion to the gods.

Object facts

• Title: Fragment of a Stela of Neferhotep
• Date: New Kingdom, mid-Dynasty 19, about 1240-1195 BCE
• Artist attribution: Egyptian; probably Theban Tomb 216, Deir el-Medina, Egypt
• Place of origin: Egypt
• Medium: Limestone and pigment
• Dimensions: 38.5 × 23.8 × 5.8 cm (15 × 9 3/8 × 2 3/8 in.)
• Type: Architectural fragment
• Department: Arts of Africa
• Reference number: 1924.579

Collection credit

Lois H. Culver Fund

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.