Stele

Label

This stele, or funerary monument, once joined hundreds of others in the necropolis of Terenuthis (modern-day Kom Abou Billou, Egypt), an important commercial center on the banks of the Nile during the Greco-Roman period. The stele would have been incorporated into the structure of the tomb on the exterior as a focus for ritual activities to support the dead in the afterlife.

Like the Nilotic relief on view nearby, this stele was made during the centuries when Egypt was part of the Roman Empire. While it would have maintained the same function as earlier Egyptian funerary stele, its decorative style shows the influence of Greek and Roman precedents. The male figure’s reclining posture evokes Greek ritual banquets, while his clothing is a Greek chiton (tunic) and himation (cloak). The figure himself is generic, though the deceased may once have been identified by his name painted on the stone surface.

From the exhibition, Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

ARTH 25, Roman Art, Kathleen Corrigan, Winter 2012

CLST 12.03, ANTH 13.01, Who Owns the Past?, Julie Hruby and Jesse Casana, Winter 2020

Classical Studies 12.02, Greek and Roman Engineering and Technology, Margaretha Kramer, Spring 2024

Classical Studies 6.01, Introduction to Classical Archaeology, Margaretha Kramer, Fall 2024

Classical Studies 6.02, Introduction to Classical Archaeology, Margaretha Kramer, Fall 2024

Classics 12.02, Greek & Roman Engineering & Technology, Margaretha Kramer, Spring 2025

History 10.02, Archival Research, Julia Rabig, Summer 2025

Anthropology 31.01, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 36.01, Gender in Cross Cultural Perspectives, Sabrina Billings, Fall 2025

Theater 15.01, Theatre & Society I, Samantha Lazar, Fall 2025

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 68, Center and Periphery: Cultural Hybridity in the Funerary Arts of the Roman Provinces, Amanda Manker, Class of 2012, Mellon Special Projects Intern, Yale University Art Gallery Collection-Sharing Initiative, Main Lobby, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 11-March 11, 2012.

Eastern Mediterranean Art from the College Collection, Barrows Windows, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 8-October 15, 1978.

Figural Sculpture: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, SArt 16, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 3-October 23, 1994.

Gene Y. Kim, Class of 1985, Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 19, 2008.

Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 7, 2025 - Ongoing

Publication History

Bulletin de l'Institute Francais d"Archeologie Orientale, France, 1978, p. 236.

Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 26, Germany, 1970, p. 173.

Amanda Manker, Class of 2012, A Space for Dialogue 68, Center and Periphery: Cultural Hybridity in the Funerary Arts of the Roman Provinces, Hanover: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, no. 5.

Investigations into the Ancient Mediterranean, Special Hood Website: The Yale University Art Gallery Collection-Sharing Initiative, 2012

Provenance

Private collection, Chicago, Illinois; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; sold to present collection, 1978.

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