Stela of Hat

This round-topped stela was made for someone called Hat. The front of the stela was prepared with a layer of plaster before being painted with decoration that is divided into three sections. The lunette shows a winged sun-disc, below which are some traces of hieroglyphs which appear to read, “The Behdetite, great god”. The second section shows four standing gods, all facing right: Re-Horakhty, Osiris, Isis and Nephthys. Standing before them would have been the deceased but paint and stucco on the right hand side of the section have been lost completely. The lower section includes three lines of hieroglyphic text in black against a yellow background. The text reads from right to left, the beginning of each line is lost. Surviving parts read, “Re-Horakhty, chief of the gods. An offering which the king gives to Osiris, foremost of the westerners ... [Lord of Aby]dos that he might give all offerings and all sustenance and everything good ... Hat, son of the god's father, Pwrm [Ranke I 131, 6], justified and revered”. The sides and back are prepared with a layer of plaster and painted yellow. Like the front, one side shows sign of damage with surface loss and staining (water damage?). CONDITION NOTE (1998): Large splits, large area of surface loss, discoloured, surface dirt, wax? on surface