Stela of Senusret

Carved limestone stela of Senusret. Framed on three sides by a torus moulding and is crowned at the top by a cavetto cornice. Divided into two registers, with the upper part containing five horizontal lines of hieroglyphs. The lower register has a representation of Senusret with his arms raised in adoration before Min-Hor. Senuret wears a short under-kilt with a long over-kilt and a broad collar necklace. Min-Hor is represented as a mummiform human figure with an erect penis, wearing a low crown surmounted by two plumes and a long ribbon trailing behind him and his right hand is raised as if in a smiting gesture, whilst simultaneously a flail is poised above his hand. Lines 1 and 2 of the top register record the expression of Senusret’s wish that the gods, Min-Hor the Strong, Osiris, Geb and the Divine Ennead of Abydos will make offerings for him in a 1000 portions, each of the commonest commodities. Line 3 is an ‘appeal to the living’ in which Senusret hails passers by, appeals to their piety and makes a request for offerings. The four vertical lines of hieroglyphs within the bottom register are read left to right. The first line is a continuation of the 5th line of the top register (reads: Senusret the justified). The next three lines serve as a caption for the scene and read: “Senusret the justified, the vizier’s reporter, adoring Min-Hor the strong during his processions”. The object was damaged in a fire during the Second World War Two; the surface was cleaned in 2008. One of five stelae known for Senusret, reporter of the vizier: 3 in Louvre, several more in Vienna. See William K. Simpson, 'Terrace', pl. 70-71, p. 24. Assigned to Abydos North Offering Chapel 52; For a discussion about the title see Stephen Quirke, 'Titles and Bureaux of Egypt', pp. 87-88.