Curved Stele of Pharaoh Amenhotep III Making Offerings To The God Sobek. - old image provenance - CULTURE: Ancient Egypt PERIOD: New Empire, Reign of Amenhotep III, 1407 - 1376 BC. MATERIAL: Limestone SIZE: 49 cm high and 32 cm wide. PROVENANCE: - Private collection, René Bourgade, France. Acquired in Cairo, during his position as Secretary General of the French Cultural Center, between 1970 and 1975. It preserves a slide from his collection with the stele taken in the capital of Egypt in 1973. CONDITION: Good state of conservation, without restorations. DESCRIPTION: The stele corresponds to the description of a curved stele. Their basic funerary function does not prevent many from having a votive character, to be deposited in temples and sanctuaries. It is made up of two registers, one upper one with the profiles of the god Sobek receiving offerings from Pharaoh Amenhotep III, with a text between them, identifying them. The second register is the smooth lower area, a place intended for sculpting the horizontal registers of text. The stela is incomplete because it lacks the text of the person who, once acquired, would have his name engraved, perhaps also that of his wife or mother, as was usual on this type of stelae. As well as formulas to acquire the favor of the pharaoh and the god to whom he dedicated himself. What leaves no doubt is that the unknown alleged buyer would be a devotee of the crocodile god Sobek or Amenhotep III, 18th dynasty, already dead and therefore deified, since both appear on the stele. In many sculptors' workshops, steles were made that left blank spaces so that the texts required by the client could be placed later. The crocodile god Sobek, with the human body of a man and the head of a crocodile, appears wearing a crown composed of two twisted horns from which emerges a solar disk flanked by two tall feathers. His right hand holds the was scepter (strength, power), while with his left he holds a so-called “key of life”, ankh. A tripartite wig hides the usekh (“wide”) necklace, which the god undoubtedly wears. He only wears a short plain skirt (shendyt) and, like the king in front of him, he is barefoot and does not wear bracelets. Sobek, identified with Ra, is venerated at Kom Ombos, his main place of worship. In the Fayum he identifies himself with Osiris. He is one of the divinities that can appear with a great variety of aspects, sometimes contradictory, since he can be an ally or enemy of Seth, while, as indicated, he is identified with Osiris. Its cult dates back to the 1st dynasty. In the famous myth of Osiris, Sobek is related to Horus, both sharing the title of “King of Egypt.” Amenhotep III, ninth king of the 18th dynasty, offers the god wine in two nu glasses. He wears a starched bow skirt and is wearing the khepresh crown, also called the blue crown, from which a king cobra emerges from the front. Judging by a curved line on her neck, she sports a usekh necklace. From the back of his waist hangs a bull's tail, an ancient symbol carried by the kings of Egypt. The sculptor has represented the king with his classic elongated eyes, so common in his many representations. The text is inscribed in four vertical registers, centered with respect to the stele. The two on the left refer to the king, while the two on the right refer to the god Sobek. They translate: “The good god Nebmaatra, Lord of the Two Lands. Beloved of Sobek Shed” The usual name of the crocodile god was Sobek, but due to its many associations with other gods, depending on the different provincial cults or times, it changed. In the Middle Kingdom the nickname Shed was common, alone or as a complement to its traditional name. Neb Maat Ra, (Ra is the Lord of truth), was the enthronement name of Tuthmes III, chosen by himself. His birth name was, Amenhotep (Amun be at peace, prince of Thebes). The stela is the work of a workshop, probably provincial, of sculptors perhaps only dedicated to the making and subsequent sale of stelae. These workshops had a stock of finished pieces with images of the different main gods of the Egyptian pantheon, so that the future client could choose that stele with their favorite god. The name of the owner was then inscribed and, according to his requirements, also the names of those closest to him. Although it appears without apparent traces of paint, many of these relatively small stelae have reached us illuminated with vivid colors. Not all objects recovered from Egyptian tombs can be dated with the precision of this stele. This is because the enthronement name of King Amenhotep III appears clearly written. Although the above should not be taken as a fixed and unalterable rule over time, because there are exceptions. Indeed, some Egyptian kings, regardless of their deification after death, left a special mark through notable events during their stay on earth. Thus, for example, there are cartridges (especially in scarabs) with the name Unas or Khufu (Cheops). Scarabs made and carried by people who lived in times much later than the reign of the king mentioned. Probably, the pharaoh who survived the most in memory, after his death, was Tutmes III (18th dynasty), the true architect of the New Kingdom, achieved after his seventeen victorious military campaigns. But this is not the case of Amenhotep III who, despite being named “the magnificent”, plus all his divine self-nominations, was, in reality, a true “bon vivant”, a lover of hunting and women, like himself. He left it written in his “commemorative scarabs”, but without any military victory. Of course, he made more monuments than anyone else, comparable only to Ramses II, both in temples and statues. And all thanks to the tributes from the Asian and African countries conquered by Tutmes III. Amenhotep III, apart from not having contributed anything positive personally during his reign, was the father of the hated Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), whose memory was erased from all monuments. That is why it is not feasible that the stele now studied was after his reign, as a pious memory. Consequently, the age of the stele must be set to the period of the reign of King Amenhotep III. This reign, according to the latest most reliable chronology, covers a period of time between the years 1407 and 1376 BC. PUBLISHED: - Attaches a study on the age of the piece issued by the Egyptologist and architect Fernando Estrada Laza. Author of “The Workers of Death” and “Understanding and Loving Egyptian Art.” Advisor to the Lamela architecture team, for the project of the future Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo (GEM). Advisor to the architectural team of Arata Isozaki (Tokyo), for the organization and selection of pieces for the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) and the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo (GEM). #masterpieces NOTES: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union). - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.