IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 52243 accession number: E.10.1922 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Tuesday 25 February 2020 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: Only the upper section of this limestone stela is preserved, the lower section including the text is missing. There are visible fault lines in the stone. There are traces of black pigment on the surface, which is from the original painted stela. The base line can clearly be seen, with a second line visible roughly half way down the stela. In the left corner, close to the replacement that is now carved, are the remains of a bird wing, and two standing figures. The limestone was reused from an earlier relief stela, the outline of an earlier drawing in black ink is visible. At the top, carved in low relief, is a winged sun-disk and two cobras. The main scene shows, from the viewer's left, the god Helios, identified by the crown of sun rays that he wears; the god Tutu in the form of a sphinx; and a female deity with a snake body, who has been identified as Isis in the form of a serpent, but is probably more specifically Isis Thermouthis. The stela shows a combination of Egyptian and foreign traditions. The form of altar, on which Isis Thermouthis sits, appears on Greek-style vases dating to the Ptolemaic period and the form that the goddess takes is reminiscent of Romano-Egyptian terracotta figurines. Tutu, however, is wholly Egyptian in execution. The god appears as a striding sphinx wearing the atef crown, which is decorated with two cobras. Helios stands uncomfortably with his right arm awkwardly twisted in order to hold the staff or sceptre placed behind him. This exact pose appears on a Ptolemaic stela now in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto showing Arsinoe II standing in front of an altar; her arm is positioned in the same way and it has been suggested that this was an attempt by the Egyptian artist to render a more naturalistic or Greek stance. Helios's face looks straight at the viewer, the torso is twisted in a three-quarter view and his feet are in profile. It seems likely that this scene was carved by an Egyptian artist who was attempting to copy a Greek model. It is also possible that the accompanying text was in Greek. title: stelae LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Antiquities STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/52243 TECHNIQUES ---------- carved CATEGORIES ------ category: architectural element DATING ------ creation date: 5001 - 201 creation date earliest: 5001 creation date latest: 201 culture: Roman DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Depth units: cm value: 9 dimension: Height units: cm value: 33 dimension: Width units: cm value: 40 CITATIONS -------- Roman Egyptomania Stelae from Egypt and Nubia in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, c. 3000BC - AD1150 --- IMAGES surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/ant/ant48/large_e_10_1922_dc2.jpg height: 871 pixels width: 1024 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/ant/ant48/mid_e_10_1922_dc2.jpg height: 425 pixels width: 500 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/ant/ant48/e_10_1922_dc2.jpg height: 872 pixels width: 1025 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/ant/ant48/preview_e_10_1922_dc2.jpg height: 213 pixels width: 250 pixels