The Stela of Neferhotep from the Sanctuary of Pepinakht-Heqaib on Elephantine Island
Published in: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Vol.82 (1996) pp.199f.
Michael R. Jenkins
The stele which is the subject of this paper was shown to me in January, 1995.[1] It had recently been removed from a private house in Sîou village, the northern of the two villages of Elephantine Island, Aswan. There it had been employed as the upper section of a window sill. The house, as reported, is of traditional Kenzi Nubian design, being made of mud brick with vaulted ceilings. In order to facilitate the flow of air through such a dwelling a small window (known in Kenzi/Metoki as a washî) was constructed high up in room's short-end walls. The stele shows signs of burn marks in the fifth line of text and in parts of the relief depicting its owner. These marks are reported to have been caused by lit candles having been placed on the lower sill of the washî, their smoke and heat causing discolouration on the block above. Obviously the stele's carved face was 'pointing downwards' in the washî, and its exposure is said to have led to curiosity on the part of the current house owner and its subsequent removal. The location of the stele is now unknown, but it probably remains in private hands.
Description:
The material of the stela is limestone, and the dimensions
are 35.4 x 22 x 5 cm. The height of the register with a scene
of two figures is 12 cm. There are five horizontal lines of text,
and three vertical ones beside the two figures.
The stone is very well preserved apart from the burn-marks noted
above, which have caused damage to the name of Neferhotep's father,
and some chips on the left-hand side (which at the extreme left
have obliterated the sign at the end of l. 5).
Translation:
Horizontal text:
1 A boon which the king gives (to) Satis, Khnum, Anuq[et]
2 and prince Heqaib that they give invocation-offerings of bread and beer, flesh and fowl,
3 incense, alabaster vessels and linen garments, every good pure thing which the gods live
4 upon, for the ka of the Elder of the Portal, Nerferhotep, justified begotten by
5 the Chief Officer of the City [Nemtihotep(?)] [2] the justified, born to Nubhertjen.[3]
Vertical texts:
1 Elder of the Portal, Neferhotep, the justified.
2 Mistress of the House Sat-Hat[hor(?)], the justified.
3 his wife.
Discussion:
From the inscription there can be little doubt that the stele of Neferhotep was originally erected within the sanctuary of Pepinakht-Heqaib on Elephantine Island. The name of the local 'god-hero' Heqaib is listed along with those of the Elephantine Triad on the stone, and the stela's textual formula, purpose and artistic quality are paralleled by stelae found in situ within this sanctuary.[4]
In the Thirteenth Dynasty numerous officials, of both high and low ranking, placed devotional and commemorative objects within the sanctuary's precinct. It is to this period that the stele of the Neferhotep belongs. The offering formula invoking th etriad of Elephantine Island and the 'noble Heqaib' is typical of stelae and statues that date from the end of the Twelfth to the mid-Thirteenth Dynasty.[5]
As far as I know Neferhotep, born of Nubhertjen and husband of Sat-Hat[hor], is an individual previously unknown; there are, however, some namesakes of his.[6] His title (Elder of the Portal), and that of his father (Chief Officer of the City) are not attested among those claimed by any of the numerous contemporaneous officials whose devotional monuments were discovered within the sanctuary of Heqaib.
While the Elder of the Portal Neferhotep obviously possessed both sufficient rank and wealth to commission and erect this stela, it is a modest devotional piece in terms of its scale and artistic quality. The style and layout are not of the 'classical' Elephantine style. The hieroglyphics have generally been rendered with some care, however the figures of Neferhotep and Sat-Hat[hor?] are crudely executed and lack any attempt at modelling.
ENDNOTES
1) I express my thanks to Dr. Carol A.R. Andrews for commenting on my translations, and to the Journal's referees. Any remaining errors are mine.
2) Reading uncertain; this possibility was suggested by the Journal's referees.
3) Not in Ranke, Personennamen. Note that the element tnj occurs in Heqaib's second name, Tjeni.
4) See L. Habachi The Sanctuary of Heqaib (Mainz, 1985); D. Franke Das Heiligtum des Heqaib auf Elephantine: Geschichte eines Provinzheiligtums im Mittkeren Reich (Heidelberg, 1994).
5) See Franke, Heqaib, 147ff., e.g. nos. 36, 64, 89, 92, 93.
6) See Franke, Personendaten aus dem Mittleren Reich (20.-16. Jahrhundert v. Chr.) (Wiesbaden, 1984), esp. no. 318 (with the title h3jjy).
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