Funerary Stela with Architectural Frame, 500–700
Byzantine; Probably from Armant, Egypt
Inscribed in Coptic: To the memory of the deceased, Taeiam, who departed from this life on the eighteenth of Choiak [December] of the seventh indiction. She sleeps in Christ.
Limestone with red, green, and black paint
Technical Glossary
Byzantine; Probably from Armant, Egypt
Inscribed in Coptic: To the memory of the deceased, Taeiam, who departed from this life on the eighteenth of Choiak [December] of the seventh indiction. She sleeps in Christ.
Limestone with red, green, and black paint
20 11/16 x 14 9/16 in. (52.5 x 37 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1936 (36.2.6)
Funerary stelae from the Byzantine period in Egypt, carved in stone and usually painted, were permanent monuments to the deceased. While normally embedded in walls or floors near the tomb, some were part of larger structures. Their decorations include scenes of paradise and symbols of the Christian Church. This example, said to be from the Upper Nile Delta town of Armant, bears the name of a prominent citizen who was buried near the marker.
