Donation Stela of Osorkon I dated to year 6

Period:
Third Intermediate Period
Dynasty:
Dynasty 22
Reign:
reign of Osorkon I, year 6
Date:
ca. 924–889 B.C.
Geography:
possibly from Heliopolis (Ain Shams); Country of Origin Egypt, Memphite Region
Medium:
Limestone
Dimensions:
H. 70 cm (27 9/16 in)
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1910
Accession Number:
10.176.42
  • Description

    From the Third Intermediate Period through the Saite Period a large number of stelae are preserved that, like this one, record the donation of land to temples. These give an unusually rich view into temple and land organization. Most often non-royal persons actually made the gift, and the gift was probably destined for the support of the donor's funerary cult. The donation was generally made through an intermediary somehow attached to the temple and who must have derived some benefit for his agency. For reasons of decorum, usually the reigning king was depicted as the official donor in the scene at the top. Probably because of the nature of land development, almost all such stelae relate to areas in the north of the country.
    King Osorkon I offers the hieroglyph for field to the gods Re-horakhty and Nebet-Hetepet. The hieratic text below records the king commanding one Djet-tah-iuf-ankh to make a donation of fields in the region of Heliopolis for the benefit of the Divine Father and Mayor of Heliopolis, Hori.

  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Inscription: hieroglyphic, hieratic

  • Provenance

    Purchased from Maurice Nahman, Cairo, 1919.

  • See also
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
100008076

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