Stele of Ai and Tat

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Stele of Ai and Tat

Place of OriginEgypt, Necropolis at Naga ed-Deir

DateFirst Intermediate Period, 9th Dynasty, about 2150 BCE

DimensionsH: 27 in. (68.6 cm.)

MediumLimestone with paint.

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1925.520

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionThis stele is carved in limestone and decorated with polychrome pigment. It shows two standing figures, Ai and Tat, rendered in low relief. Ai wears a short white kilt and broad collar, while Tat is in a turquoise garment. Both face a vertical arrangement of offerings including meat, bread, pomegranates, and jars. Hieroglyphic inscriptions are incised above and to the right of the figures, including an offering formula. The stele is bordered with red lines.

Label TextThe artist who carved this well-preserved stele did so in low relief, cutting the figures into the surface of the stone, rather than cutting away the background. With much of its original color intact, the stele depicts Ai—“the count, the seal bearer, the lector priest”—and his wife Tat, “beloved, the only ornament of the king, priestess of Hathor….” Before them are offerings of food and drink, some on tables at their feet, while others, including the foreleg of an ox, float before the face of Ai. Beginning at top right, hieroglyphs present the offering formula, which permits Ai and Tat to consume food brought to their chapel.Published References

Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich, Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, p. 44-45, repr. (col.) p. 44, (det.) p. 14.

Fortenberry, Diane ed., Souvenirs and New Ideas: Travel and Collecting in Egypt and the Near East, Oxford, UK, Oxbow Books, 2013, p. 31, repr. fig. 3.7, p. 32. Jay, Jacqueline E., “Naga-ed-Deir to Thebes to Abydos: The Rise and Spread of the 'Couple Standing before Offerings' Pose on FIP and MK Offering Stelae,” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, vol. 46, 2010, pp. 69-70, fig. 2.

Exhibition History

Toledo Museum of Art, The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb, October 29, 2010-January 8, 2012.