© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Michael McKelvey.

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Funerary Cone Inscribed for Merymose

AAT Object Form/FunctionFunerary Cones

Place FoundThebes, Egypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodNew Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Reign of Amenhotep III

Date1390-1353 BCE

MediumClay

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Dimensions4 1/2 x 3 3/8 x 2 1/2 in. (11.4 x 8.5 x 6.4 cm)

Object number1989.006

Label TextFunerary cones were common decorative elements on the superstructures of tombs in the Theban necropolis, with uninscribed examples dating from as early as the Middle Kingdom. The form became more elaborate during the New Kingdom, when the name and titles of the tomb owner were stamped onto the flat end of the cone. Dozens of the imprinted cones were then inserted in rows above the tomb entrance. This arrangement was designed to imitate roof beams protruding from the front of the superstructure.

This cone adorned the tomb of Merymose (TT383), the viceroy of Kush during the reign of Amenhotep III.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 1999
Africa's Egypt, Memphis Museum System, Memphis, Tennessee, February 20 - September 24, 1999
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001 - 2008
Published ReferencesPeter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2001), 25.

ProvenanceFrom Theban Tomb 383, Thebes, Egypt. Purchased by Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology from Charles Ede Ltd., London, England.

Status

On view

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