Inventory Stela

Inventory Stela
Inventory Stela
Type	Stela
Material	Limestone
Height	70 centimetres (28 in)
Width	42 centimetres (17 in)
Writing	Egyptian hieroglyphs
Period/culture	Saite Period
Discovered	1858; Giza Plateau, Egypt ; 29°58′40″N31°08′11″E / 29.97786°N 31.13645°E
Discovered by	Auguste Mariette
Present location	Egyptian Museum
Registration	JE 2091

Last updated March 14, 2023

The Inventory Stela (also known as Stela of Khufu's Daughter) is an ancient Egyptian commemorative tablet dating to the 26th Dynasty (c. 670 BC). It was found in Giza during the 19th century. The stela presents a list of 22 divine statues owned by a Temple of Isis, and goes on to claim that the temple existed since before the time of Khufu (c. 2580 BC).

Discovery

The stela was discovered in 1858 at Giza by the French archaeologist Auguste Mariette, during excavations of the Isis temple, next to queen's pyramid G1-c. The tablet was found close to the Great Sphinx of Giza.^[1]^[2]

Description

The original size of the tablet is unknown, since it was already damaged at the time of its discovery. The creation of the stela can be dated back to the 26th Dynasty, the Saite period, around 670 BC. The Inventory Stela is made of limestone and decorated with a commemorative inscription and a so-called apparition window. The apparition window names 22 divine statues of different deities, the statues are claimed to have been part of the temple's belongings. The statues are figuratively depicted and their material and size are also described.^[3]

The commemorative text is engraved on the U-shaped frame around the apparition window. It praises the gods Isis, Mistress of the pyramids and Osiris, Lord of Rosta. After this, the inscription claims that the Isis temple was already at its place before the pyramids had been erected and that the temple was discovered by Khufu east of the Great Pyramid, beside the "house of Harmakhis " (the Sphinx). Then it claims that Khufu first "built the temple of Isis anew" and then built a pyramid for the "king's daughter Henutsen". Finally, the goddess Isis is praised and again entitled as "mistress of the pyramids".^[1]^[4]

Historical importance

The credibility of the Inventory Stela is viewed by historians and Egyptologists with great caution. The text contains many anachronisms and its elaboration is poor. To the scholars it is obvious that the stela was a purposeful fake, created by the local priests with the attempt to certify the Isis temple an ancient history it never had. Such an act became common when religious institutions such as temples, shrines and priests' domains where fighting for political attention and for financial and economic donations.^[2]^[4]

The Isis temple was built on the remains of the mortuary temple of queen's pyramid G1-c, which is today believed to be queen Henutsen's tomb. Already in ruins at the end of the Middle Kingdom, the mortuary temple was first rebuilt and enlarged in the Eighteenth Dynasty. Further reconstruction took place in the Twenty-first and Twenty-sixth Dynasty, when it served as a place of worship for the cult of Isis, Mistress of the Pyramid.^[2]^[4]

A first, direct proof for fakery is the circumstance that Khufu is introduced by his Horus name first, not by his birth name inside a cartouche, as it was actually common at this time. Secondly, it mentions the goddess Isis. But Isis' name does not verifiably occur before king (pharaoh) Nyuser-Rê of the 5th Dynasty and she never had the title "mistress of the pyramid(s)". And, third of all, Henutsen was a queen consort, her actual parents are unknown and she is not known to be the daughter of a king.^[2]^[4]

Despite these scholarly conclusions, people who adhere to the hypothesis that the Great Sphinx and the pyramids are much older than Egyptologists want to believe, consider the stela as a proof supporting such claims.^[5]

Related Research Articles

In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynasty, such as King Sneferu, who perfected the art of pyramid-building, and the kings Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, who constructed the pyramids at Giza. Egypt attained its first sustained peak of civilization during the Old Kingdom, the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley.

Khufu or Cheops was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom period. Khufu succeeded his father Sneferu as king. He is generally accepted as having commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but many other aspects of his reign are poorly documented.

Menkaure, was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the fourth dynasty during the Old Kingdom, who is well known under his Hellenized names Mykerinos and Menkheres. According to Manetho, he was the throne successor of king Bikheris, but according to archaeological evidence, he was almost certainly the successor of Khafre. Africanus reports as rulers of the fourth dynasty Sôris, Suphis I, Suphis II, Mencherês (=Menkaure), Ratoisês, Bicheris, Sebercherês, and Thamphthis in this order. Menkaure became famous for his tomb, the Pyramid of Menkaure, at Giza and his statue triads, showing the king together with his wives Rekhetre and Khamerernebty and with various deities.

Khafre was an ancient Egyptian King (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He was the son of Khufu and the successor of Djedefre. According to the ancient historian Manetho, Khafre was followed by king Bikheris, but according to archaeological evidence he was instead followed by king Menkaure. Khafre was the builder who made the second largest pyramid of Giza. The view held by modern Egyptology at large continues to be that the Great Sphinx was built in approximately 2500 BC for Khafre. Not much is known about Khafre, except from the reports of Herodotus, writing 2,000 years after his life.

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human, and the body of a lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre.

Djedefre was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He is well known by the Hellenized form of his name Rhatoisēs (Ῥατοίσης) by Manetho. Djedefre was the son and immediate throne successor of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza; his mother is not known for certain. He is the king who introduced the royal title Sa-Rê and the first to connect his cartouche name with the sun god Ra.

The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from c. 2613 to 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other countries is documented.

Shepseskaf was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt, the sixth and probably last ruler of the fourth dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He reigned most probably for four but possibly up to seven years in the late 26th to mid-25th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neferefre</span> Pharaoh of Egypt

Neferefre Isi was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He was most likely the eldest son of pharaoh Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II. He was known as prince Ranefer before he ascended to the throne.

Shepseskare or Shepseskara was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the fourth or fifth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. Shepseskare lived in the mid-25th century BC and was probably the owner of an unfinished pyramid in Abusir, which was abandoned after a few weeks of work in the earliest stages of its construction.

The pyramid of Khafre or of Chephren is the middle of the three Ancient Egyptian Pyramids of Giza, the second tallest and second largest of the group. It is the tomb of the Fourth-Dynasty pharaoh Khafre (Chefren), who ruled c. 2558−2532 BC.

The pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three main pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex, located on the Giza Plateau in the southwestern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. It is thought to have been built to serve as the tomb of the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Menkaure.

The Giza pyramid complex in Egypt is home to the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx. All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt, between 2600 and 2500 BC. The site also includes several temples and cemeteries and the remains of a workers' village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giza Plateau</span> Site of the largest known collection of pyramids, in Egypt

The Giza Plateau is a limestone plateau in Giza, Egypt, the site of the Fourth Dynasty Giza pyramid complex, which includes the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, the Great Sphinx, several cemeteries, a workers' village and an industrial complex. It forms the northernmost part if the 16,000 ha Pyramid Fields in the Western Desert edge of the Nile Valley that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Memphis and its Necropolis.

The Department of Ancient Egypt is a department forming an historic part of the British Museum, with Its more than 100,000 pieces making it the largest and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Meritites I was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 4th Dynasty. Her name means "Beloved of her Father". Several of her titles are known from a stela found at Giza. She was buried in the middle Queen’s Pyramid in Giza.

Henutsen is the name of an ancient Egyptian queen consort who lived and ruled during the 4th dynasty of the Old Kingdom Period. She was the second or third wife of pharaoh Khufu and most possibly buried at Giza.

This page list topics related to ancient Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyramid G1-c</span>

G1-c is one of the subsidiary pyramids of the Giza East Field of the Giza Necropolis immediately to the eastern side of the Great Pyramid of Giza, built during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. It is the southern of the three pyramids of the queens and is the one of Queen Henutsen. It is 46.25 metres wide and had a height of 29.60 metres. A niche, four inches deep was dug in the south wall of the burial chamber. Pyramid G1-c was originally not a part of Khufu's pyramid complex, as its southern side is aligned not with the side of the Great Pyramid, but with Khufukhaf I's mastaba tomb nearby. Pyramid G1-c was at some point thought to possibly be a satellite pyramid, because it did not come with a boat pit like pyramids G1-a and G1-b. It was later determined to be an unfinished pyramid however which was constructed in a hurry. Henutsen is thought to have been buried in the tomb. Dr. Rainer Stadelmann believes Khufukhaf is the same person as Khafra and the pyramid was built by him for his mother, but this identification is doubtful.

The Khufu Statuette or the Ivory figurine of Khufu is an ancient Egyptian statue. Historically and archaeologically significant, it was found in 1903 by Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie during excavation of Kom el-Sultan in Abydos, Egypt. It depicts Khufu, a Pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, and the builder of the Great Pyramid, though it may have been carved much later, in the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, 664 BC–525 BC.

References

1 2 Margaret Bunson: Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (= Facts-on-File Library of World History-series). Infobase Publishing, New York 2014, ISBN 1438109970, page 181.
1 2 3 4 Miroslav Verner: The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments. Grove/Atlantic Inc., 2007, ISBN 0802198635, page 212.
↑ Sandra Sandri: Har-pa-chered (Harpokrates) (= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta, 151. Band). Peeters Publishers, Leuven 2006, ISBN 904291761X, page 268.
1 2 3 4 Peter Jánosi: Die Pyramidenanlagen der Königinnen (= Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, volume 13). Vienna 1996, ISBN 3700122071, p. 11, 125.
↑ Garrett G. Fagan: Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public . Psychology Press, 2006, ISBN 0415305926, pp. 111-112.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[MBEA-1] 1 2 Margaret Bunson: Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (= Facts-on-File Library of World History-series). Infobase Publishing, New York 2014, ISBN 1438109970, page 181.

[MVTP-2] 1 2 3 4 Miroslav Verner: The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt's Great Monuments. Grove/Atlantic Inc., 2007, ISBN 0802198635, page 212.

[3] Sandra Sandri: Har-pa-chered (Harpokrates) (= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta, 151. Band). Peeters Publishers, Leuven 2006, ISBN 904291761X, page 268.

[PJDP-4] 1 2 3 4 Peter Jánosi: Die Pyramidenanlagen der Königinnen (= Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, volume 13). Vienna 1996, ISBN 3700122071, p. 11, 125.

[5] Garrett G. Fagan: Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public . Psychology Press, 2006, ISBN 0415305926, pp. 111-112.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]