Funerary stela of a metal worker

Classification

funerary stela

Culture

Graeco-Egyptian (culture)

Dimensions

30.6 x 17.8 x 8.5 cm

Date

2nd–3rd centuries

Period

Roman Imperial Period (Egypt, 30 B.C. – 395 A.D.)

Material

Egyptian limestone ; material analysis

Iconography

male figure ; hammer ; chiton ; orant ; himation

Production place

Lower Egypt

Findspot

Egypt

Present location

Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts, Collection of Classical Antiquities

Provenance

Agaybi, Helmi (Medinet el-Fayum)

Inventory

60.10.A

Hyp-6868

References

Castiglione, in AntTan 16 (1969); Castiglione, in BullMusHong 64 (1985), 13–14, 65–66, fig. 12; Pelsmaekers, in BIHB 59 (1989), 10, no. 242

Man clad in a short sleeved chiton and a mantle, standing to front within a simplified architectural frame, his arms raised in a gesture of prayer. He holds a hammer in his right hand – the symbol of his profession was added to the figure of the deceased upon the purchase of the stela and the carving of the inscription.

The three-line Greek inscription mentions both the name and profession of the deceased: Apollodoros was a bronze worker (chalceus).

Material analyses conducted by Danielle Decrouez (Geneva, Museum of Natural History) and Karl Ramseyer (University of Bern, Institute of Geological Sciences) have shown that the stela was made of Egyptian limestone. Click here for the detailed results.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.