Funerary stele of Djefi

2323 - 2150 B.C.

This stele comes from the funeral monument of a man named Djefi. He appears on the left side of this fragment together with his wife, Henits. His name is visible beside his feet, and hers is carved above her head.

Stelae like this were generally placed in underground tombs above a "false door," a carving near the top of the tomb shaft, where the spirit of the deceased could access the tomb.

Limestone

11 3/4 x 25 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. (29.9 x 64.2 x 5.7 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

45.11

Provenance: [Hagop Kevorkian, New York, New York]; purchased from Mr. Kevorkian by Seattle Art Museum/ Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, Seattle, Washington, August 1944

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Published ReferencesHandbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 9 (b&w)

Teeter, Emily, Egyptian Art in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1988, no. 3, p. 8

Teeter, Emily, The Egyptian Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, in KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 12, No. 3, Fall 2001, illus. p. 24

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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