This round-topped funerary stela dates to the Middle Kingdom reign of Senwosret I, a strong king who united Egypt after a period of turmoil and brought new vigor to architectural projects and the arts. Shensetji is identified as a sculptor, first serving at Lisht, the site of Middle Kingdom royal and elite burials, and later to the south at Abydos, in the sacred precinct of Osiris. The text designates various offerings to be given to Shensetji on specific holidays and festivals. The lower registers depict him and his wife, along with various family members, identified by their inscribed names. The stela is densely packed with inscriptions and figures, with the exception of a small blank area beneath the seated female at the right of the fourth register from the bottom. Perhaps the artist intended to add another element, such as the mirror found beneath the female figure at the opposite end of the register, or a family pet, as is sometimes found on Egyptian stelae or reliefs.
Provenance: Recorded by William Gell (1777-1836), Rome; Collection of Lord Kinnard from 1823; sold at Sotheby & Co., London, sale April 30, 1935, lot 37 to William Randolph Hearst; Gift to Lacma from William Randolph Hearst Collection, 1950.
Publications
Faulkner, Raymond O. “The Stela of Master Sculptor Shen.” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 38 (1952): 35, pl. 1.
Obsomer, Claude. Sésostris Ier: Étude chronologique et historique du règne. Brussels: Connaissance de l’Égypte Ancienne, 1995, 54246.
Oppenheim, Adela, et al., eds. Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015, 15354, cat. 87.
Landgráfová, Renata, ed. It Is in My Good Name That You Should Remember: Egyptian Biographical Texts on Middle Kingdom Egyptian Stelae. Prague: Czech Institute of Egyptology, 2011, 12426.
