Stela of Intef and his wife, Dedetamun

Stela of Intef and his wife, Dedetamun

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This limestone fragment is the lower portion of a stela showing Intef, son of Henyt, and his wife Dedetamun seated on an animal-legged chair. Intef sports a short, curly hair and wears a green broad collar, blue bracelets, and white short kilt. He reaches for the food offerings with one hand, and grasps a small white object, probably a folded cloth, in the other. Dressed in a green single-strapped sheath dress and adorned with a broad collar as well as bracelets and anklets, Dedetamun places one hand over her husband’s shoulder and holds a large white object, probably an ointment vase, in the other. Their son, whose barely-legible name is perhaps Ameny, stands on the left, bringing oversized flowers to the table, which consists of a tall white column supporting a bound reed mat. The table is laden with a pile of food offerings, including cuts of beef, vegetables, and long, conical loaves of bread. The two drop-shaped jars with pointed stoppers below the table are meant to contain beverages. The scene and texts on stelae are generally carved and then painted, but this particular monument is executed only with paint.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stela of Intef and his wife, DedetamunStela of Intef and his wife, DedetamunStela of Intef and his wife, DedetamunStela of Intef and his wife, DedetamunStela of Intef and his wife, Dedetamun

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.