ARTIC-EG
Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian) · stela
Stela of Amenemhat and Yatu
Description
This round-topped stela (or commemorative monument) depicts a mother and son surrounded by the objects they hoped to use in the afterlife. The mother, Yatu, and her son, Amenemhat, sit in chairs with oversized cosmetic containers placed underneath. The distinctive flared shape of the white and red vessel beneath Yatu indicates that it holds ointment. Under Amenemhat’s seat, a thin, white applicator sticks out of a blue jar containing eye paint called kohl. The vessel’s color suggests that it is carved out of anhydrite, a fashionable choice for cosmetic vessels during the Middle Kingdom period when this mother and son lived.
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
Painted limestone funerary stela showing two human figures seated at a low table with offerings, beneath bands of hieroglyphic text.
The artifact appears as a rectangular, arched-top stela made of light-colored stone with preserved polychrome pigment. The upper register contains multiple horizontal lines of hieroglyphs, though the specific signs are not fully legible at this resolution. Two painted figures are shown in the lower register seated side-by-side facing inward toward a low offering table. The table holds multiple red-and-white offering items (including what look like rows of vessels and/or food items). The right figure wears a red garment and a head covering/wig; the left figure is in lighter colors. A red, green, and black painted frame and inner border lines run along the edges, with symmetrical decorative bands flanking the central scene. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible.
funerary
unknown (inscriptional and stylistic features suggest Egyptian funerary stela painting; exact dynasty/period unclear)
good
Materials
limestone (stone body)pigment/paint (red, yellow/ochre, green, black)
Signs
unknown hieroglyphic signs (multiple rows of text present) ×50
Inscriptions (1)
Inscription #1
English description
Prayer, in four horizontal lines, for "a royal offering of Osiris, Lord of 'Life of the Two Lands' (a quarter in Memphis). May he give a mortuary offering of bread and beer, oxen and geese, linen, clothing, every good and pure thing whereon [the god] lives, for the ka of the gaurdsman Amenhemat, deceased, born of Yatu, deceased, (and for the ka of) his mother, his beloved, Yatu, deceased, born of Tita, deceased.
Cross-references (1)
- ARTIC-id 127894 tier-2
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About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.