A BLACK GRANITE FUNERARY STELE OF WENNEFER (ONUPHRIOS), SCRIBE AND HEM-NETJER PRIEST, PTOLEMAIC
A BLACK GRANITE FUNERARY STELE OF WENNEFER (ONUPHRIOS), SCRIBE AND HEM-NETJER PRIEST, PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 200 BC
Egypt. Finely carved in sunk relief, the surviving upper section of the round-topped stele presents Wennefer at the right, standing in reverent adoration before a procession of three deities. He wears a long, close-fitting garment and raises both hands in prayer, while the hieroglyphic inscription before him records his name and titles as a scribe and hem-netjer priest.
Facing Wennefer is Ptah, shown in his canonical mummiform guise, enveloped in a close-fitting garment and wearing a tight skullcap, his hands grasping the was scepter. Behind him stands the falcon-headed Sokar in anthropomorphic form, likewise holding a was scepter, followed at the far left by Nefertum, distinguished by his tripartite wig and the lotus emblem rising above his head.
The composition is crowned by a large winged solar disk spreading across the curved summit of the stele, forming a celestial canopy above the encounter between the deceased and the divine realm. Numerous and dense hieroglyphic inscriptions above the divine figures contain offering formulas addressed to the gods.
Provenance: With Daphne Zimmermann Koutoulakis, Geneva, Switzerland. The private collection of Egyptologist Frédérique von Känel, acquired from the above in 1991, and thence by descent. A copy of a signed and stamped invoice from Daphne Zimmermann Koutoulakis, dated 21 May 1991, stating a purchase price of CHF 27,000 or approx. EUR 38,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies the lot. Daphne Zimmermann Koutoulakis is a Geneva-based antiquities dealer and a member of the well-known Koutoulakis family of art dealers. She is the daughter of the prominent dealer Nicolas Koutoulakis and continued the family's activities in the trade, dealing in Classical, Egyptian, Near Eastern, and Byzantine antiquities. Frédérique von Känel (1943-2023) was a French Egyptologist whose research focused particularly on ancient Egyptian religion, priesthoods, healing practices, and the cults of the goddesses Sekhmet and Serket. She studied under the eminent Egyptologist Jean Yoyotte and completed advanced research at the École pratique des hautes études, including a major study of the ouâb-priests of Sekhmet and the conjurors of Serket, published in 1984.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Old wear, obvious losses, natural fissures, scattered nicks and chips, expected rubbing, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Weight: 18.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Length 48.5 cm (excl. stand), 48 cm (incl. stand)
Firmly mounted on a fitted metal and stone base. (2)
Expert's note: The stele is remarkable for the carefully structured encounter between Wennefer and three closely interconnected Memphite deities: Ptah, Sokar, and Nefertum. Ptah was the great creator god and divine patron of Memphis; Sokar, whose principal cult was likewise centered in the Memphite necropolis, embodied the funerary realm and became intimately associated with both Ptah and Osiris; while Nefertum, the lotus god of regeneration, was regarded as the son of Ptah and formed with Ptah and Sekhmet the principal Memphite divine triad. Their juxtaposition here therefore evokes a particularly dense network of ideas surrounding creation, death, renewal, and eternal rebirth.
The name of the deceased adds a further layer of meaning. Wennefer (Greek: Onuphrios), literally “the Perfect One” or “He Who Continues to Be Perfect,” was also one of the most important epithets of Osiris. The name thus carried powerful funerary associations of its own, evoking the god who had overcome death and attained renewed and eternal existence. For a deceased priest bearing this name, the appearance before Ptah, Sokar, and Nefertum would have possessed particular resonance: the imagery brings together the Memphite gods of creation and the necropolis with the Osirian promise of regeneration embodied in Wennefer's very name.
Above the scene, the winged solar disk extends across the rounded summit like a celestial vault. Its protective presence completes the theological program of the stele, placing Wennefer's act of perpetual worship beneath a divine and cosmic canopy and transforming the monument into an enduring image of his hoped-for participation in the regenerated world of the gods.
Wennefer is the Egyptian name inscribed on the stele; Onuphrios is its Greek rendering, not a second name adopted by the deceased. In Ptolemaic Egypt, Greek was widely used in administration alongside Egyptian, while hieroglyphs remained in use on religious monuments.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related black granite relief funerary stele of Thut-sotem, dated late 4th-late 1st century BC, 41.3 cm high, in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, accession number 22.124. Compare a related limestone stele, with a similar rounded top and winged sun disc, Ptolemaic period, 222-204BC, 74 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number EA1054.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams London, 3 July 2019, lot 291
Price: GBP 75,062 or approx. EUR 117,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian limestone round-topped stele for Padi-Bast, Akhmim, Ptolemaic Period, circa 4th Century BC
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and similar rounded top and winged sun disc depicting. Note the size (70.5 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's New York, 29 April 2019, lot 114
Price: USD 56,250 or approx. EUR 64,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian basalt relief, Ptolemaic period, Reign of Ptolemy I
Expert remark: Note the size (55.9 cm).
A BLACK GRANITE FUNERARY STELE OF WENNEFER (ONUPHRIOS), SCRIBE AND HEM-NETJER PRIEST, PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, CIRCA 200 BC
Egypt. Finely carved in sunk relief, the surviving upper section of the round-topped stele presents Wennefer at the right, standing in reverent adoration before a procession of three deities. He wears a long, close-fitting garment and raises both hands in prayer, while the hieroglyphic inscription before him records his name and titles as a scribe and hem-netjer priest.
Facing Wennefer is Ptah, shown in his canonical mummiform guise, enveloped in a close-fitting garment and wearing a tight skullcap, his hands grasping the was scepter. Behind him stands the falcon-headed Sokar in anthropomorphic form, likewise holding a was scepter, followed at the far left by Nefertum, distinguished by his tripartite wig and the lotus emblem rising above his head.
The composition is crowned by a large winged solar disk spreading across the curved summit of the stele, forming a celestial canopy above the encounter between the deceased and the divine realm. Numerous and dense hieroglyphic inscriptions above the divine figures contain offering formulas addressed to the gods.
Provenance: With Daphne Zimmermann Koutoulakis, Geneva, Switzerland. The private collection of Egyptologist Frédérique von Känel, acquired from the above in 1991, and thence by descent. A copy of a signed and stamped invoice from Daphne Zimmermann Koutoulakis, dated 21 May 1991, stating a purchase price of CHF 27,000 or approx. EUR 38,000 (converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing), accompanies the lot. Daphne Zimmermann Koutoulakis is a Geneva-based antiquities dealer and a member of the well-known Koutoulakis family of art dealers. She is the daughter of the prominent dealer Nicolas Koutoulakis and continued the family's activities in the trade, dealing in Classical, Egyptian, Near Eastern, and Byzantine antiquities. Frédérique von Känel (1943-2023) was a French Egyptologist whose research focused particularly on ancient Egyptian religion, priesthoods, healing practices, and the cults of the goddesses Sekhmet and Serket. She studied under the eminent Egyptologist Jean Yoyotte and completed advanced research at the École pratique des hautes études, including a major study of the ouâb-priests of Sekhmet and the conjurors of Serket, published in 1984.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age. Old wear, obvious losses, natural fissures, scattered nicks and chips, expected rubbing, signs of weathering and erosion, and encrustations.
Weight: 18.1 kg (incl. stand)
Dimensions: Length 48.5 cm (excl. stand), 48 cm (incl. stand)
Firmly mounted on a fitted metal and stone base. (2)
Expert's note: The stele is remarkable for the carefully structured encounter between Wennefer and three closely interconnected Memphite deities: Ptah, Sokar, and Nefertum. Ptah was the great creator god and divine patron of Memphis; Sokar, whose principal cult was likewise centered in the Memphite necropolis, embodied the funerary realm and became intimately associated with both Ptah and Osiris; while Nefertum, the lotus god of regeneration, was regarded as the son of Ptah and formed with Ptah and Sekhmet the principal Memphite divine triad. Their juxtaposition here therefore evokes a particularly dense network of ideas surrounding creation, death, renewal, and eternal rebirth.
The name of the deceased adds a further layer of meaning. Wennefer (Greek: Onuphrios), literally “the Perfect One” or “He Who Continues to Be Perfect,” was also one of the most important epithets of Osiris. The name thus carried powerful funerary associations of its own, evoking the god who had overcome death and attained renewed and eternal existence. For a deceased priest bearing this name, the appearance before Ptah, Sokar, and Nefertum would have possessed particular resonance: the imagery brings together the Memphite gods of creation and the necropolis with the Osirian promise of regeneration embodied in Wennefer's very name.
Above the scene, the winged solar disk extends across the rounded summit like a celestial vault. Its protective presence completes the theological program of the stele, placing Wennefer's act of perpetual worship beneath a divine and cosmic canopy and transforming the monument into an enduring image of his hoped-for participation in the regenerated world of the gods.
Wennefer is the Egyptian name inscribed on the stele; Onuphrios is its Greek rendering, not a second name adopted by the deceased. In Ptolemaic Egypt, Greek was widely used in administration alongside Egyptian, while hieroglyphs remained in use on religious monuments.
Literature comparison:
Compare a related black granite relief funerary stele of Thut-sotem, dated late 4th-late 1st century BC, 41.3 cm high, in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, accession number 22.124. Compare a related limestone stele, with a similar rounded top and winged sun disc, Ptolemaic period, 222-204BC, 74 cm high, in the British Museum, registration number EA1054.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Bonhams London, 3 July 2019, lot 291
Price: GBP 75,062 or approx. EUR 117,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian limestone round-topped stele for Padi-Bast, Akhmim, Ptolemaic Period, circa 4th Century BC
Expert remark: Compare the related modeling and similar rounded top and winged sun disc depicting. Note the size (70.5 cm).
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's New York, 29 April 2019, lot 114
Price: USD 56,250 or approx. EUR 64,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Egyptian basalt relief, Ptolemaic period, Reign of Ptolemy I
Expert remark: Note the size (55.9 cm).
