Horemkhauef lived in the southern Egyptian town of Hierakonpolis at the very end of the Middle Kingdom, shortly before the capital city of Lisht, along with the rest of northern Egypt, was abandoned to the Hyksos. He was an official in charge of the measurement of fields for purposes of taxation, but he also served as priest in the local temple of Horus, the patron god of Hierakonpolis.
Horemkhauef's stela, erected in his tomb, is unusual for its description of a mission on which he was sent to the capital to bring back for this temple a cult statue of Horus and Isis, which had been crafted in the royal workshops. The stela itself was made in Hierakonpolis, as indicated by its relatively unpolished style and spelling.
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Dimensions:h. 58 cm (22 13/16 in); w. 35 cm (13 3/4 in); th. 15 cm (5 7/8 in)
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1935
Object Number:35.7.55
[1] Htp-Di nswt Hr.w-nxn Wsjr Hr.j-jb nxn Hr.w-nD-jt=f DHwtj psD.t nTr.w [2] nTr.yt jm.jw nxn Di=sn pr.t-xrw t' Hnq.t kA.w Apd.w Ss mnx.t snTr mrH.t (j)x.t nb.t nfr.t wab.t dd.t jm n [3] nTr Htp.t DfA.w Ax wsr mAa-xrw ssn.t TAw nDm n mH.yt dd.t p.t [4] qmA tA jnn.t Hap(j) a.wy di=sn baH swab=f DHwtj wdn=f n kA n [5] sHD Hm-nTr tp.j n Hr.w nxn jm.j-r'-AH.wt Hr.w-m-xa.w=f mAa-xrw j.Dd=f jw [6] rD.n Hr.w-nD-jt=f m Hr=j r Xn.w r jn.t Hr.w nxn Hna mw.t=f As.t mAa.t xrw [7] rD.n=f wj m Hr.j jmw js.t gr.t rx.n=f (w)i m sr [8] mnx n Hw.t-nTr=f rs-tp Hr swD.n=f aHa.n=i xd.kw mAa.w nfr Sd.n=i [9] Hr.w nxn Hr a.wy Hna mw.t=f nTr.t tn m xA nfr n jT-tA.wj xft-Hr nswt Ds=f [10] jnk saH jq(r) tp tA wnn=i m Ax jq(r) m Xr.t-nTr m-xt rD=i t' n Hqr.w [11] Hbs n HA.w sanx=i sn.w=i ni Di=i dbH wa m-a ky [12] z' nb Hr wn n sn.w=f jw nw.n=i [13] pr mna.w=i qrs.w sanx.w jw drp.n=i kA.t [14] n Hr.w jw Di.n Hr.w d(r)p n=i Ab.w n.w kA.t m pr n aA.t [15] n mrr=f wi sHD Hm-nTr tp.j Hr.w nxn jm.j-r' AH.wt Hr.w-m-xa.w=f [16] jr.w n sHD Hm-nTr jm.j-r' AH.wt DHwtj mAa xrw ms(.w) n Xkr.t-nswt tj.t-jb mAa.t-xrw A royal offering of Horus of Hierakonpolis, Osiris in the heart of Hierakonpolis, Horus Who Avenged His Father, Thoth, the Ennead, and the gods [1] and goddesses who are in Hierakonpolis, may they give an invocation-offering of bread and beer, meat and poultry, alabster and linen, incense and oil, everything good and clean from which there is given to [3] a god; becoming effective, strong, and justified; breathing the sweet air of the north; that which the sky gives, [4] the land creates, and the inundation brings; the arms giving, the inundation purifying, and Thoth presenting for the ka of [5] the superintendant high priest of Horus of Hierakonpolis and overseer of fields, Horemkhauef, justified, who says, [6] Horus Who Avenged His Father assigned me to the capital to get Horus of Hierakonpolis and his mother Isis, justified, [7] having put me in charge of a boat and crew because he knew me as an official [8] functional for his temple and watchful over what has he assigned. Then I went downstream in good order having taken [9] Horus of Hierakonpolis in my arms, along with his mother, that goddess, from the Goods Office of Itjtawy in the presence of the king himself. [10] I am an accomplished dignitary on earth; I will be an excellent spirit in the necropolis hereafter. I gave bread to the hungry [11] and clothing to the naked. I nourished my siblings and made it unnecessary for one to request things from another, [12] every man opening to his siblings. I have cared for [13] the estate of those who nursed me, (so that they were) buried and caused to live. I have presented work [14] to Horus, and Horus has presented me with freedom from work in the (temple) estate, because [15] of how much he loves me. Superintendant high priest of Horus of Hierakonpolis and overseer of fields, Horemkhauef, [16] born to the superintendant priest and overseer of fields, Djehuty, justified, and born of the King's Ornament, Titib, justified.
The lower left part of the stela names Horemkhauef with his title as priest, his wife, King's Ornament Sebeknakht, his sons, Djehuty and Sebeknakht, his daughters, Harmaakheru, Hesesitef, Itefseneb, and the lector priest Harmeni. Niv Allon 2015
Excavations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition at Hierakonpolis, 1934–35. Allotted to the Museum by the Egyptian Government in the division of finds.
Smith, W. Stevenson 1946. History of Egyptian Sculpture and Painting in the Old Kingdom. Boston and Oxford, p. 234.
Hayes, William C. 1953. Scepter of Egypt I: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: From the Earliest Times to the End of the Middle Kingdom. Cambridge, Mass.: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 346–47, fig. 227.
Franke, Detlef 2006. "Fúrsorge und Patronat in der Ersten Zwischenzeit und im Mittleren Reich." In Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, 34, p. 183, no. 17.
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