Stela


Accession Number
W1076
Current Location
House of Life (first floor), Stela
Object Type
Architecture, Architectural element, Stela
Period
Byzantine Period
Material
Stone/minerals
Measurements
Height: 397mm | Width: 303mm | Depth: 52mm
Number of Elements
1

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Description

A Coptic stela, with a stylised façade of a religious building and four plant-form columns. There is an eagle in centre flanked by peacocks or doves (the image of the eagle is also sometimes interpreted as a phoenix representing the sun-god Re). A small hoop is located in the top of the stela, possibly to fix it in place. It is part of the Rustafjaell collection purchased by Wellcome in 1907. There is a similar stela illustrated in HR Hall, 1905, 'Coptic and Greek Texts of the Christian Period from ostraka, stelae, etc. in the British Museum' Plate XCVII, number 1327. According to Robert de Rustafjaell (1909, p. 79), the stela was found in the Theban region.

Bibliography

de Rustafjaell, Robert 1909. The light of Egypt: from recently discovered predynastic and early Christian records. London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner. [p. 79, pl. 35] HR Hall, 1905, 'Coptic and Greek Texts of the Christian Period from ostraka, stelae, etc. in the British Museum' Plate XCVII, number 1327.