The Stela of the ‘Master-Sculptor’ Shen-Setji: A Review 631 632 Gloria Rosati

and clothing, and a thousand of all pure things to the ka of the honoured7 one, for the Horus-name only. In my opinion, as in Obsomer’s,9 the line would re-
the Director of Sculptors Shen-setjid, justified. sult in very crowded signs. I prefer therefore to integrate the Horus-name on-
He was promoted to this temple complexe, the estates and towns of eter- ly, the more so as the royal titulary could even be preceded by �n�, as in the
nity, the splendid district of the gods, whose arrangement is superior to any stela CGC 20515, year 10 of Senwosret I,10 which shows a similar formula-
placef and with which this god is content; the shrine of the thrones of Geb, tion at the top of the lunette: rnpt�sp10 �r �m n // [long heaven-sign over the
keeping secret the mysteries in Abydos; the sanctuaryg of Anubis, toward elongated cartouche] �n� nswt�b�� ty �pr�k��R� mry �nty��� mntyw �n� �t, “Year
which Ra lights up his faceh. He makes gift of life in the Westi, and his heart 10 under the Person of :/ (Long) live the King of Upper and Lower Egypt
is glad thereby. Kheperkara, beloved of Khentimentyu, may he live forever”; or stela Leiden
I have come in peace to this chapelj which I have made in the western V 2,11 with the same arrangement and identical long heaven-sign over the car-
horizon of Abydos in the Ta-Wer province, in the place of eternity and conti- touche, just like the previous one: rnpt�sp 9 // �n� �r �n��mswt n�r nfr �pr�k��
nuity, the Terracek of the August God. The honoured one, the Director of R� mry Ws�� r nb �b�w d�� �n�, “ Year 9. (Long) live Horus Ankh-mesut, the
Sculptors Shen-setji, he says: O you living upon earthl, who love life and hate Perfect God Kheperkara, beloved of Osiris Lord of Abydos, given life”. This
death, when you’ll followm Wepwawet in all his movements, and your heart peculiar palaeographic feature, the elongated cartouche, whether with or
enjoys life upon earth, you shall give me an invocation-offering at the feastn without the heaven-sign on top, is not uncommon, especially in the first half
of the month and of half-month, the feast of the Opening of the Year, the First of the Twelfth dynasty. Using the list of dated stelae in Simpson 1974: 26–29,
(Procession) and the Great Procession, the feast of Thot, when the God comes the following ones show this feature: Leiden V 2 and Louvre C 2, both Sen-
(?), the wag-feast, the rekeh-feast, (the feast of) Sokar, the New Year feast, wosret I, 9; CGC 20026 and CGC 20515, both Senwosret I, 10; Alnwick
the sadj(-feast), the Min processions, the haker-feasts, the feast of spending 1932, Senwosret I, 13; Louvre C 166, Senwosret I, 17; CGC 20542, Sen-
the night (or: the vigil) in Peqer, the feast of Numbering (�nwt), the feasts of wosret I, 24; BM 572, Senwosret I, 39; Leiden V 4, Amenemhet II, 2; BM
the Five-Days-Above-the-Year, (all) the beautiful feasts of the temple of Osi- 828, Amenemhet II, 3; Louvre C 4, Amenemhet II, 8; Louvre C 243, Ame-
ris, (namely, to) the honoured one Shen-setji. You shall then say: a thousand nemhet II, 14; Berlin Inv. 1190, Amenemhet II, 23. An even more unusual
of bread and beer, a thousand of oxen and fowl, a thousand of alabaster vases one, containing only well-wishing words for the king, Amenemhet I, is in-
and clothing, a thousand of all pure thingso coming forth in the presence of cised on the back of a statue from Khatana.12 In the second part of the dynasty
the Great God, for the honoured one, the Director of Sculptors Shen-setji, this kind of cartouche design seems vanishing, at least on Abydene stelae.13
b
born by Iyt.8 The �n�-sign is partially visible, so the reading is certain, instead of
I was a sculptor in Amenemhet-itj(u)-tauip, given life forever; I have �q���t, though suitable, as in Faulkner’s translation. See also the preceding
come then <to> this temple complex to work under the Person of the King of note. It is still a problem to understand why some private monuments bear a
Upper and Lower Egypt Kheperkaraq, beloved by Khentimentyu Lord of
Abydos, given life like Ra forever and ever.
9 Obsomer 1995: 543
10 Simpson 1974: pl. 46
Commentary
11 Boeser 1909: pl. VI.
a 12 Statue Cairo JE 60520: Gauthier 1935; Sourouzian 2005: pl. II b.
Faulkner 1952: 4 suggests that this Ankh-mesut should be the Nebty-
name of Senwosret I, because in his opinion the preceding room is too much 13 This is a general remark, of course: the long cartouche does exist much time before (e.g. in
the famous relief of Snofru from Wadi Maghara: Gardiner-Peet-�erný 1952, Pl. II), and
during the Twelfth dynasty in fact it is kept on stelae recording missions to quarries: e.g.
Gardiner-Peet-�erný 1952, nos. 27, 28 (Amenemhet III, 41 and 42); Engelbach 1933: 71,
73 and Pl. IV; and on statues as well (Lorand 2011: 65; Sinai no. 79, Senwosret II). I have
7 This is of course a conventional translation: cfr. one of the ‘classic’ contribution to the sub- come across two much later stelae which show perhaps an archaizing revival of this pattern
ject and one of the more recent ones, Sainte Fare Garnot 1941 and Jansen - Winkeln 1996. during the Nineteenth Dynasty: Pierret 1874: 66, stela Louvre Entrée 3629, Merenptah;
8 Ranke, PN I 11,11 Pierret 1878: 134, stela Louvre C 218, Ramesses II.