id:			102365
accession number:	1921.1017
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1921.1017
updated:		2023-01-10 18:25:53.079000

Stele of Shemai, c. 1960–1916 BC. Egypt, Aswan, Qubbet el-Hawa, excavations of Lady William Cecil, 1904, "Cecil Tombs," no. 28, Middle Kingdom, early Dynasty 12, probably reign of Sesostris I. Painted limestone; overall: 83.5 x 86 x 23 cm (32 7/8 x 33 7/8 x 9 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Edward S. Harkness 1921.1017

title:				Stele of Shemai
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1960–1916 BC
creation date earliest:		-1960
creation date latest:		-1916
current location:		107 Egyptian
creditline:			Gift of Edward S. Harkness
copyright:			

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culture:	Egypt, Aswan, Qubbet el-Hawa, excavations of Lady William Cecil, 1904, "Cecil Tombs," no. 28, Middle Kingdom, early Dynasty 12, probably reign of Sesostris I
technique:	painted limestone
department:	Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
collection:	Egypt - Middle Kingdom
type:		Funerary Equipment
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 83.5 x 86 x 23 cm (32 7/8 x 33 7/8 x 9 1/16 in.)
state of the work:	
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support materials:


inscriptions:

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	remark:		

	inscription:	
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact:
This door-shaped stele honors a deceased chief of police named Shemai.

digital description:


wall description:
Two techniques of relief carving are employed here: the scene of the deceased seated before a table of offerings and its accompanying inscriptions are in raised relief, while the border inscriptions are in sunk relief. The three columns of hieroglyphs in the center read: "The one honored before Osiris, lord of Busiris, the great god, lord of Abydos, that he [the god] may give invocation-offerings of bread and beer, oxen and fowl, travertine [vases] and clothing to the ka [vital spirit] of the chief of police, Shemai, vindicated."
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	"Accessions." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 8, no. 9 (1921): 138-41.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 138
	url:		http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136519

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: 55
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook_80839/page/n57

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 70
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1928/page/n74

	Berman, Lawrence M. "The Stele of Shemai, Chief of Police, of the Early Twelfth Dynasty, in The Cleveland Museum of Art," in Simpson, William Kelly, Peter Der Manuelian, and Rita E. Freed (Eds.), <em>Studies in honor of William Kelly Simpson, vol. I.</em> Boston: Dept. of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, 1996. Pp. 93-99.
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač.<em> Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 159; Mentioned: p. 159-160
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1921.1017/1921.1017_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1921.1017/1921.1017_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1921.1017/1921.1017_full.tif