Stela of Senebii

A limestone round-topped stela belonging to Senebi, a treasurer of the Thirteenth Dynasty, under the kings Neferhotep I and Sobekhotep IV (around 1750 BC). The hieroglyphs and figures are coloured green and incicised. At the top, within the arch, are two Wedjat-eyes. The content is divided into five registers. In each register is the figure of a man or woman at each side with six short columns of text between, three lines read from right to left and three reading the opposite way. The figures are carved in shallow sunk relief, the inscriptions are incised. The deceased, Senebi, is shown to the left of the first register, seated on a chair, his right hand rests on his knee and his left is folded across his breast. On the right is the figure of a man, facing left, wearing a short kilt and shoulder length wig. Register 2: To the left is the kneeling figure of a woman, her right arm on her knee, the left folded across her breast. Opposite her on the right is her son, kneeling in a similar position. Register 3: The figures of the man and woman in this register are depicted in the same attitude as those in the previous one. The man is on the left, the woman to the right. Register 4: Both of the kneeling figures in this register are male. Register 5: Again, both of the kneeling figures are male. Another stela once in this Museum records the names of Senebi's parents (see number M13661). One of his scarab seals is in the British Museum. The technique was described by Professor Percy Newberry in c. 1910 as being good. The stela was destroyed by a fire during the Second World War. One photograph survives and a number of copies of the inscription, including at least two by Professor Percy Newberry. The stela is of particular interest as it gives the names of the parents of Senebi, whose stela (see number M13635) was also in this Museum (and also destroyed in the Second World War).