This stela is covered with magical texts and images that protected against scorpions and snakes, two of the most pervasive threats in ancient Egypt. The scene in high relief at the front shows the infant Horus subduing snakes, scorpions, a lion, and an oryx, all animals emblematic of the desert. The stela was originally erected in a temple near modern Cairo; the Egyptians believed that water poured over it could absorb the powers of its inscriptions and serve as a magical antivenom.

The stela is named after the Austrian chancellor Prince Metternich, who received it as a gift from the ruler of Egypt in 1828. It remained in the Metternich family until shortly before its purchase by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.