Stele of Shemai (c. 1960–1916 BCE): Art, History and Details

Stele of Shemai (c. 1960–1916 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Two techniques of relief carving are employed here: the scene of the deceased seated before a table of offerings and its accompanying inscriptions are in raised relief, while the border inscriptions are in sunk relief. The three columns of hieroglyphs in the center read: "The one honored before Osiris, lord of Busiris, the great god, lord of Abydos, that he [the god] may give invocation-offerings of bread and beer, oxen and fowl, travertine [vases] and clothing to the ka [vital spirit] of the chief of police, Shemai, vindicated."

Object facts

• Title: Stele of Shemai
• Date: c. 1960–1916 BCE
• Culture: Egypt, Aswan, Qubbet el-Hawa, excavations of Lady William Cecil, 1904, "Cecil Tombs," no. 28, Middle Kingdom (2040–1648 BCE), Dynasty 12, probably reign of Senusret I (1971–1926 BCE)
• Type: Funerary Equipment
• Technique: painted limestone
• Dimensions: Overall: 83.5 x 86 x 23 cm (32 7/8 x 33 7/8 x 9 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Egypt - Middle Kingdom
• Department: Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Accession number: 1921.1017

A detail from the museum

This door-shaped stele honors a deceased chief of police named Shemai.

Collection credit

Gift of Edward S. Harkness

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 8, no. 9 (1921): 138-41.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.