Collection Online as of September 27, 2023

Stele of Shemai

c. 1960–1916 BC

Egypt, Aswan, Qubbet el-Hawa, excavations of Lady William Cecil, 1904, "Cecil Tombs," no. 28, Middle Kingdom, early Dynasty 12, probably reign of Sesostris I

Painted limestone

Overall: 83.5 x 86 x 23 cm (32 7/8 x 33 7/8 x 9 1/16 in.)

Gift of Edward S. Harkness 1921.1017

Location

107 Egyptian

Fun Fact

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

Description

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."

Inscriptions

Inscription Translation

The one honored before Osiris, lord of Busiris, the great god, lord of Anydos, that he may give invocation-offerings of bread and beer, oxen and fowl, linen and travertine (vessels) to the ka of the chief of police, Shermai, vindicated.

Inscription Remark

Center

Inscription Translation

An offering that the king gives to Anubis, he who is on his mountain, he who is in the place of embalming, lord of the cemetery, that he (Anubis) may give a thosand of bread and beer, oxen and gowl, linen adn travertine (vessels), of [ferings, and provisions?...]

Inscription Remark

Beginning in the center and continuing down the jamb on the right.

Inscription Translation

An offering that the king gives to Osiris, lord of Busiris, the great god, lord of abydos [that he (Osiris) may give...]

Inscription Remark

Beginning in the center and continuing down the jamb on the left.

Citations

"Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 8, no. 9 (1921): 138-41. Mentioned: p. 138 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Mentioned and Reproduced: 55 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 70 archive.org

Berman, Lawrence M. "The Stele of Shemai, Chief of Police, of the Early Twelfth Dynasty, in The Cleveland Museum of Art," in Simpson, William Kelly, Peter Der Manuelian, and Rita E. Freed (Eds.), Studies in honor of William Kelly Simpson, vol. I. Boston: Dept. of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, 1996. Pp. 93-99.

Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 159; Mentioned: p. 159-160