Stela of the Overseer of Sculptors Shensetji

This object is not part of The Met collection. It was in the Museum for a special exhibition and has been returned to the lender.

Commemorative stela and tomb inscriptions of the Middle Kingdom sometimes include idealized biographies, providing information about historical events as well as individual lives. The text on the stela of Shensetji begins with the titulary of the pharaoh Senwosret I, under whom he served, and continues with standard funerary formulas. It concludes with a statement about Shensetji’s life: he was first a sculptor in the capital Itjtawi (Lisht) and later moved to Abydos, where he presumably helped to decorate the temple of the funerary god Osiris. The inscription provides important evidence that artists moved between key centers of production. The two seated couples receiving offerings are Shensetji and his wife (left) and probably his parents (right). Rows of family members stand below.