This painted limestone slab comes from the tomb of Neferiu at Dendura, in Upper Egypt. This stela is framed by a representation of a shrine constructed of reed-bundled posts with a cornice of palm fronds. Shrines of this type were sanctuaries in pre-dynastic times. They became so sacred that the main elements often reappeared in later stone architecture and as decoration of religious objects.

Here, the shrine elements served to underline Neferiu’s status as one of the venerable dead. Directly below the cornice is a representation of Neferiu seated at a table heaped with food. He sniffs at a perfume jar, and a large lotus flower bends towards him. Inscriptions enumerate thousands of offerings.

The lower part of the stela is occupied by a false door, the traditional place of communion between the dead and the living. On each side are figures of Neferiu and his beloved wife Wedjbet. On the left, Neferiu is painted yellow, a color usually reserved for pictures of women. This coloration is sometimes used for priests, but here it may be a mistake on the part of the painter. Above the figures on the left, is a text that sums up Egyptian ethical values. It begins, “I gave bread to him who was hungry and clothing to him who was naked. I ferried the stranded man in my own ferry boat.”

On the right, Neferiu addresses visitors to his tomb: “Oh you who live on Earth who love life, I nourish the great in the year of famine. I worked hard with my arm so as to endure among my descendants.”

The stela dates from the First Intermediate Period, a time just after the decline of the Old Kingdom. The Old Kingdom collapsed due to unbearable social tension and overall climatic changes that seemed to have brought droughts to Egypt. Famine occurred, and people had to struggle to feed their children and communities.