Protective Stele of the God Shed and a Scorpion

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Protective Stele of the God Shed

and a Scorpion

Place of OriginEgypt, found in Chapel 525 of the Workmen's Village in Akhetaten (modern Amarna)

Dateabout 1330 BCE

Dimensions8 3/4 × 5 1/2 × 2 in. (22.2 × 14 × 5.1 cm)

MediumLimestone with polychrome pigments.

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of the Egypt Exploration Society

Object number

1921.150

Not on View

DescriptionThe stele is a rounded-topped limestone slab painted in polychrome, featuring a side-facing depiction of the protective god Shed dressed in a short kilt with weaponry. A large scorpion at his feet is surmounted by two downward-pointing arrows. Paint includes red, black, and yellow. The surface has been heavily waxed post-excavation, resulting in yellowing and discoloration, particularly over the blue pigment. It was discovered leaning against the back of the niche platform in Chapel 525 at Amarna, still in situ on an altar.

Label TextThis painted limestone stela was discovered in 1921 by the Egypt Exploration Society in a small mud-brick tomb chapel at Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived capital city built by Pharaoh Akhenaten during Egypt’s 18th Dynasty. The chapel, known as Tomb-Chapel 525, was one of several clustered on the desert slopes above a walled village inhabited during the reign and immediate aftermath of Akhenaten. Leaning against the rear wall of the chapel’s elevated shrine platform, the stela features the god Shed, a protector deity associated with safeguarding individuals from danger and disease. Shed is shown standing in a striding pose, armed with bow and staff, and facing a scorpion—an emblem of the threats he was invoked to counter. The figure is painted in vivid pigments, though the surface has since been darkened by early conservation efforts. This object is particularly notable because it was found alongside another stela, now in the Cairo Museum. Commissioned by a man named Ptahmay, who referred to himself as “the praised one of the Aten,” the pair reflects complex devotional practice in the wake of Akhenaten’s death. They represent rare, tangible expressions of lay piety and religious pluralism at the close of the Amarna period. Their presence—at a site once thought to be devoted exclusively to the sun god Aten—suggests the persistence or reintroduction of traditional religious beliefs following Akhenaten’s death, possibly during the reign of Tutankhamun.Published References

Peet, T. Eric, "Excavations at Tel El Amarna: A Preliminary Report", Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 7, 1921, pp. 169-185, esp. Sect. III 'The Tomb Chapels', pp. 181-182.

Peet, T. Eric and Woolley, C. Leonard, The City of Akhenaten, Part I, London, 1923, pp. 95-99; Plate XXVIII, Fig. 4.

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. 60, repr. (col.).