The Ikhernofret Stela ( Berlin Museum ref 1204) is an important ancient Egyptian

stela A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), wh ...

dated to the Middle Kingdom and is notable for its veiled description of how the mysteries of the deity

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...

were carried out in Abydos. The stela is 100 cm high and made of limestone. Osiris is depicted standing under a winged sun disk facing Senwosret III. The text is laid out below Osiris in twenty-four horizontal lines. Underneath the text, Ikhernofret, a

12th Dynasty The Twelfth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty XII) is considered to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom by Egyptologists. It often is combined with the Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth dynasties under the group title, Middle Kingdom. Some ...

treasurer under Pharaoh Senwosret III, is depicted at an offering table with his family."''The Literature of Ancient Egypt''", William Kelly Simpson, p425-427, Yale University Press, 2003, The rituals celebrated the god's kingship, death and resurrection."''Ancient Egyptian Literature: The Old and Middle Kingdoms''",

Miriam Lichtheim Miriam Lichtheim (3 May 1914, Istanbul – 27 March 2004, Jerusalem) was a Turkish-born American-Israeli Egyptologist, known for her translations of ancient Egyptian texts. Biography Miriam was born in Istanbul on May 3, 1914, to Richard Lichtheim ...

, p123-125, University of California Press, 1975, The stela describes how Ikhernofret is regarded as a beloved "''foster child''" of the King who was made "''Companion of the King''" when twenty-six. He is sent on a mission to Abydos by the King to carry out work in honour of the Kings Father "''Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners"''. The stela records how the festivities were celebrated in four main parts."''Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt''", p227-229,

Jan Assmann Jan Assmann (born Johann Christoph Assmann; born 7 July 1938) is a German Egyptologist. Life and works Assmann studied Egyptology and classical archaeology in Munich, Heidelberg, Paris, and Göttingen. In 1966–67, he was a fellow of the German ...

, Translated by David Lorton, Cornell University Press, 2005, *Procession of

Wepwawet In late Egyptian mythology, Wepwawet ( hieroglyphic ''wp-w3w.t''; also rendered Upuaut, Wep-wawet, Wepawet, and Ophois) was originally a war deity, whose cult centre was Asyut in Upper Egypt (Lycopolis in the Greco-Roman period). His name means ...

("''The Opener of the Ways''"). Wepwawet was in this instance a manifestation of the triumphant Horus who came to the aid of his father Osiris. The rite involved excoriation rituals relating to the enemies of Osiris. *Great Procession. Leaving the Temple of Osiris, a re-enactment of the funeral procession of Osiris in the Neshmet-Barque. *Haker Festival ("''The Night of the Battling Horus''"). The acting out of the battle between Horus and

Set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

. *Procession to the Temple of Osiris. Osiris returns to the Temple, symbolising resurrection and the triumph over death. The

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...

and novelist

Christian Jacq Christian Jacq (; born 28 April 1947) is a French author and Egyptologist. He has written several novels about ancient Egypt, notably a five book series about pharaoh Ramses II, a character whom Jacq admires greatly. Biography Born in Paris, ...

used the Ikehernofret inscriptions as the foundation of his Osirian series "''The Mysteries of Osiris''".{{Citation needed, date=October 2019

External links

Picture and translation of the stela

References

Ancient Egyptian stelas Ancient Egyptian religion Senusret III Egyptological objects of the Berlin State Museums Osiris

See also

External links

References