An Ax iqr n Ra Stela from the collection

of the Egypt Centre, Swansea1

K. Griin

A number of years ago Prof. Alan Lloyd wrote a stimulating paper entitled
‘Psychology and Society in the Ancient Egyptian Cult of the Dead’.2 he
paper examined the ‘Egyptian Afterlife’, and in particular, the ‘Maintenance
Stage’ of the deceased. It was noted that this was achieved in a number of
ways, including the erection of ancestor busts and stelae, often containing the
common formula Ax iqr n Ra, within some household rooms or chapels.3 It is
therefore itting that, following the publication of this paper, the Egypt Cen-
tre, of which Prof. Lloyd played a crucial role in orchestrating the conception,
acquired such a stelae. It is a pleasure to be able to contribute this small piece
to a volume honouring my lecturer and inspiration, Prof. Alan B. Lloyd, whom
many of his students, past and present, refer to afectionately as ‘God’.
In 1939 Bruyère published an article, ‘Le Culte du Khou Aker’, in which he
discussed 29 examples of these stelae, many of which were found during his
own excavations at Deir el-Medina.4 his corpus was expanded upon in 1983
when Demarée produced a comprehensive study on the Ax iqr n Ra stelae,
bringing together the 57 examples known to him.5 Since this publication a
further 11 stelae have been brought to our attention.6 hese examples, along
with the example from the Egypt Centre (see Figures 1 and 2),7 bring the
1
I should like to express here my deepest thanks and gratitude to the following scholars
and institutions who have graciously assisted me in one way or another in writing this paper:
Carolyn Graves-Brown, curator of the Egypt Centre, Swansea for permission to publish as well
as photograph the stela; Robert Demarée, Kenneth Kitchen, Tony Leahy, Marcel Maree, Lud-
wig Morenz and homas Schneider for their thoughts on the reading of the dedicatee’s name;
Anthony Donohue for his valuable information with regards to the history of the stela prior
to its acquisition by the Egypt Centre; he staf of the EES for permission to examine Petrie’s
excavation notes.
2
Lloyd (1989).
3
Despite the fact that there is strong evidence for an ancestor cult in ancient Egypt it has
been claimed that, aside from the royal ancestor worship, it did not exist. Allam (1977) 102;
(Wildung, 1975) 111.
4
Bruyère (1939).
5
Demarée (1983). he author numbers these stelae A1–A57.
6
Schulman, (1986). for examples numbered A58–A64; Demarée (1986) for examples num-
bered A65–67; A further example, JE29258, was highlighted by Leahy (1990) 176 n.7. he
numbering system established by Demarée is the one used in this paper.
7
Numbered A68 by this author; see Figures 1 and 2.
138 K. Griin

total of known stelae to 69. While the majority of the Ax iqr n Ra stelae have
their provenance at Deir el-Medina8, others have been found further aield.
hese include examples from Abydos,9 the West Bank of hebes,10 ‘hebes?’,11
Heliopolis,12 the palace of Merenptah in Memphis,13 Medinet Habu,14 as well
as some of unknown provenance.15
he common element which makes these stelae unique is the Ax iqr n Ra hi-
eroglyph formula which is used to describe the dedicatee.16 his is commonly
translated as ‘able spirit of Re’ although iqr can also mean ‘efective’, ‘perfect’,
‘excellent’, ‘skilful’, or ‘worthy’.17 he designation makes clear that those rep-
resented were the transigured dead who dwelt in the realms of the sun god
and Osiris.18 Schulman suggests an alternative translation reading ‘an Ax, (one)
which is (continually) iqr’, with the following n Ra not expressing the indirect
genitive, but rather the dative ‘to/for/on behalf of Re’.19
he expression Ax iqr is rather frequent in the inscriptions of the private
tombs of the Old Kingdom.20 Englund says that the word ikr is used to indi-
cate acts of knowledge of the ritual and funerary formulas and all the secret
things, which made it possible for the deceased to reach the state of Ax and
which ensures survival.21 his knowledge can prevent the deceased from dying
a second death, that no evil occurs, and to allow the Ax to leave the necropolis
at will.22 his is clearly demonstrated in Spell 180 of the Book of the Dead
which is said to ‘open a path for an Ax iqr who is in the realm of the dead,
granting him his movements, extending his strides, going in and out of the
realm of the dead, and taking shape as a living soul’.23 Being an Ax iqr, the
deceased is able to ofer his benevolent mediation between the living and the
gods.24 While it was expected that the Axw would assist their living relatives, it
8
Stelae A7, 13, 19, 23, 29, 30, 34, 38, 40, 41 46, 52, 53, 65, 66, 67 were all excavated at Deir
el-Medina. Stelae A3, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 25, 32, 33, 35, 36 37, 39, 43, 49 are almost
certainly assigned to Deir el-Medina. Stela A9, 10, 24, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 51 are simply listed
as “Deir el-Medina?”. his gives a total of 45 stelae from, or said to be from, Deir el-Medina.
9
A2, 11, 12, 28, 56, 57, 68 and JE29258 published by Daressy (1893) 28.
10
A4, 18, 20, 26, 27, 31.
11
A55.
12
A1. Demarée attributes this stela as having come from “Deir el-Medina?” despite the fact
that the old catalogue of the Kestner Museum says “Heliopolis”.
13
A61, 62, 64.
14
A60.
15
A54, 63, 58, 59.
16
On some of the stelae the abbreviated term Ax iqr is used.
17
Demarée (1983) 195; Friedman (1994) 114; Friedman (2001) 47; Wb. I, 137.
18
Taylor (2001) 42.
19
Schulman (1986) 317.
20
Englund (1978) 132; Friedman (1985) 85; Friedman (2001) 48; Schulman (1986) 316.
21
Englund (1978) 132.
22
Englund (1978) 94; Mc Dowell (1999) 104.
23
Faulkner (1999) 177.
24
Baines (1991) 153; Bomann (1991) 68; Demarée (1983) 210; Fitzenreiter (1994) 64; Lesko
 An Ax iqr n Ra Stela from the collection of the Egypt Centre, Swansea 139

was also acknowledged that they could be dangerous if ofended.25 In fact, the
word Axw develops into the word ‘demon’ in the Coptic Period.26

he close association between the deceased and the sun god Re can be seen
in a number of spells from the Book of the Dead where the Ax iqr is said to
be aboard the solar barque of the god.27 he deceased, in his position as an Ax
iqr, acts as an able assistant of the sun god whose divine and benevolent grace
he is therefore entitled to receive. his not only results in a beatiied existence
in close proximity to Re, but also permits the deceased to have direct contact
with the great god, who will listen to him.28 Other spells are said to make a
spirit iqr, often for the beneit of the sun god Re.29
Perhaps the most well known method of communicating with deceased
relatives was through the so called ‘Letters to the Dead’.30 hese letters fre-
quently addressed the deceased relative as Ax or Ax iqr.31 he vast majority of
these letters date to the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom and
it is possible that the introduction of the Ax iqr n Ra stelae coincided with
the decline in the use of the letters. One interesting example, dating to the
Nineteenth Dynasty, is the letter to Ankhiry which was found at Saqqara.32
Ankhiry is addressed as Ax iqr and it is interesting to note that the text is writ-
ten in a nervous, rapid hand, and bristles with scribal errors indicating that its
author was in a state of high excitement.33
It was not until the late Eighteenth Dynasty that the expression Ax iqr n Ra
was irst used in conjunction with the stelae.34 his has led some scholars to
attribute the Amarna ‘revolution’ in bringing about their origin.35 However,
while a number of chapels linked to ancestor worship have been found at Tell
el-Amarna, no examples of such stelae have been found at the site.36 It is to
the Ramesside Period that most of the examples date.37 he inscriptions on
the stelae are quite basic and rarely provide any of the titles of the dedicatee.38

(2001) 338; Mc Dowell (1992) 106; Meskell (2004) 70.

25
Demarée (1983) 194; Mc Dowell (1999) 104.
26
Demarée (1983) 194; Mc Dowell (1999) 104.
27
BD 100, 101, 130 & 133.
28
Demarée (1983) 251, 284.
29
Spells 130, 133, 134, 136A, 190.
30
Gardiner and Sethe (1928).
31
Demarée (1983) 214; Gardiner and Sethe (1928) 23.
32
Janssen & Janssen (1996) 57–8.
33
Janssen & Janssen (1996) 57.
34
Lines (2001, 53) argues that a Middle Kingdom stelae, in the collection of the University
of Birmingham, was an early example of an ancestor stelae although the term Ax iqr or Ax iqr
n Ra is not used.
35
Friedman (1996) 99; Harrington (2005) 71; Schulman (1986) 306.
36
Bomann (1991). 68.
37
Demarée (1983) 186.
38
Bruyère (1939). 152.
140 K. Griin

Some of the stelae have been found in houses at Deir el-Medina which sug-
gests that they acted as the focus of a domestic cult of ancestors situated in
the front room.39 hese stelae would have originally been placed in the niches
which are located in the irst room of the houses.40 Other examples from Deir
el-Medina have been found in the area of the temples and chapels, or even
between tombs.41
As well as these stelae a large number of anthropoid busts and ofering trays,
containing the same Ax iqr n Ra formula, have been found.42 Two stelae, one
from Abydos43 and the other from Deir el-Medina,44 seem to demonstrate the
close link between these busts and the stelae. In both cases the dedicator of
the stelae appears to be paying homage to igures in the shape of these anthro-
poid busts.45 his act is further exempliied by a passage from Papyrus Sallier
(IV. Li, 6–7) which reads iri prt-xrw n Axw m pr.k iri Aabt n nTrw, ‘Make a fu-
nerary ofering to the Axw in your house, make an ofering to the gods’.46 Some
scholars have even suggested that the dedicatee depicted on the stelae is actu-
ally a representation of a statue.47 Demarée rejects this interpretation, claiming
that no such statues with the person represented sniing a lotus lower are
known.48 However, a recent publication by Ogdon examines a fragmentary
statue which holds a bouquet.49 While the majority of the stelae contain the
names of the Ax iqr, the busts are all unnamed, bar a few examples.50 However,
a number of wooden tickets, which were found in close proximity to the busts,
suggest that they were originally attached.51 Harrington claims that the lack of
inscriptions on the busts suggests that their identiication was closely linked
to their location.52
here now follows a description of the Ax iqr n Ra stela which is housed in the
Egypt Centre, Swansea. I retain the original format established by Demarée.

39
Bothmer (1988) 29; Fitzenreiter (1994) 58; Lloyd (1989) 129; Roccati (1979) 281; Schul-
man (1986) 311; Taylor (2001) 1985; hompson (2001) 329. A total of 5 stelae were excavated
from houses A7, 23, 38, 41 and 41.
40
Bruyère (1939) 165; Keith-Bennett (1981) 48.
41
Bierbrier (1995) 95; Bomann (1991) 72; Demarée (1983) 182; Holden (1982) 300; Janssen
and Janssen (1996) 52; Meskell (2004) 70; Sadek (1987) 63.
42
Friedman (1985) 84. Over 150 anthropoid busts are known, half of which come from Deir
el-Medina while the others come from 14 other sites. Around 10 ofering tables, each contain-
ing the Ax iqr n Ra formula, have also been found at Deir el-Medina.
43
Vandier d’Abbadie (1946) Fig.1.
44
Bierbrier (1995) Fig.69; Meskell (2004) Fig. 3.2.
45
Kaiser (1990) 272.
46
Friedman (1985) 96.
47
Friedman (1985) 89; Friedman (2001) 48; Martin (1982) 83; Schulman (1986) 307.
48
Demarée (1983) 285, note 23.
49
Ogdon (1990) 66.
50
Mc Dowell (1992) 53; Vandier d’Abbadie (1946) 134.
51
Friedman (1985) 83.
52
Harrington (2005) 78.
 An Ax iqr n Ra Stela from the collection of the Egypt Centre, Swansea 141

Figure 1: Fragment of an Ax iqr n Ra stela. Figure 2: Reconstruction of the stela.

Courtesy of the Egypt Centre, A232. Drawing by the author.

A68
Name: Pa…?53
Date: Nineteenth Dynasty.
Material: Limestone.
Dimensions: 0,09 x 0,08 m. (Preserved part only).
Technique: Shallow sunk relief with incised text.
Colours: Traces of reddish brown pigment on the body of the man.
Conservation: Only the upper left part of the stela is preserved. his has been
subsequently damaged and a sizable lake has become unattached.
Type: a (1). Round-topped stela, representing the dedicatee seated and facing
right; in the arch is a text in vertical lines. (1) In front of the dedicatee is an
altar.
Provenance: Abydos?.
Present location: he Egypt Centre, Swansea. A232.
Description: On the left the dedicatee is seated on a high-backed chair wear-
ing a wig with illet and a wsx-collar.54 He has a short beard and wears a short
wig with a illet band tied around it. he curved end of the top of the chair can
be seen just above the collar. In his left hand he holds a lotus-lower which
sinuously curls away from his body with its blossom looping back towards his

53
For a detailed discussion on the reading of the name of the dedicatee see below.
54
Andrews (1996) 119; Friedman (1985) 82.
142 K. Griin

face, giving the impression that he is sniing its pleasing fragrance.55 In his
right hand the dedicatee appears to be holding a bouquet of lowers, the re-
mains of which can be seen just in front of him, as opposed to the snb-cloth,56
or anx-sign. While bouquets of lowers are often represented atop a table of
oferings no other examples of the dedicatee holding a bouquet are known
from the stelae. Unfortunately, the right side of the stela is damaged, but based
on other examples of this type of stelae the dedicatee presumably sits before
an ofering table which would have been piled high with various foods. In the
arch above the whole scene is a text, written in a number of vertical lines, the
beginning of which is missing.
Text: he text, which is incomplete, can be tentatively reconstructed based on
other examples of this type. he complete text is likely to have been written
in four or ive vertical lines of hieroglyphs and would probably have read as
follows:
[Wsir Ax iqr n] Ra PA-(?) mAa-xrw(?)
“[he Osiris, the able spirit of ] Re, Pa-(?), the Justiied?”
Bibliography: Unpublished.
Commentary: he stela fragment is one of a group of objects transferred to
the Egypt Centre in 1997 from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where
they had been part of a general teaching collection, once displayed in the mu-
seum formally maintained by the university. Together with excavated material
from Tarkhan and Haraga, it was donated to the college at the beginning of
the 20th Century by J.B. Willans, a subscriber to the Egypt Exploration Fund
and the British School of Archaeology in Egypt.57 he fragment, along with a
further 66 objects, had been sent by Margaret Murray to Mr Willans shortly
after the 25th August 1903.58 Miss Murray had been assisting Flinders Petrie
in the excavations at Abydos during the winter of 1902–3 which suggest the
provenance of the stela was at this site.59 Unfortunately it cannot be ascertained
55
he lotus-lower is well known for its religious symbolism, especially its association with
‘life’ and ‘rebirth’. Benson (2001) 305; Germer (2001) 536; Harrington (2005) 77; Meskell
(2002) 176; Schulman (1986) 318.
56
his snb-cloth was a symbol of rebirth and was frequently held within the isted hands of
Egyptian statues. Wolfhart (1967).148–9.
57
Archives from the Egypt Exploration Society show that Mr Willans became a member of
the ‘Fund’ in 1902.
58
A letter addressed to Mr Willans is dated to the 25th August 1903 and reads as follows:
‘he box I got to pack your ‘anteekas’ in has been commandeered and used for packing some of
the objects found by Prof. Petrie which are being sent to some museum or other. So I have to
wait till the next lot of boxes come in when I shall have one given to me to make up for the one
taken. his will probably be tomorrow, so in the meantime I send you a box by post of a few
things which are light enough to go that way. he other box must go by mail as it is too big and
heavy for the post. I enclose the list of things you will ind when you get them’. he list of 67
objects includes the fragment of stela at number 64 and is said, incorrectly, to date to probably
‘after the Twenty-sixth Dynasty’.
59
For accounts of the expedition in addition to those recorded in the published reports see
 An Ax iqr n Ra Stela from the collection of the Egypt Centre, Swansea 143

whether the fragment was excavated or purchased from an antiques dealer at

the site.60 However, it is interesting to note that in the same year a similar Ax
iqr n Ra stela was found by Petrie within the Osiris temple at Abydos.61
he authenticity of the stela could also be brought into question. his is due
mainly to the reading of the hieroglyphic inscription which is rather crude and
has proved most diicult to read. However, given the fact that the fragment
surfaced by 1903 one might expect an ‘original’ stela to be known from which
this fragment was copied; something which is not the case.
he inscription, which is partially preserved on the fragment, begins with

the name of the dedicatee which begins with the pA-bird  although, because
the name of the god Re, written out in its fullest form. his is followed by

of the crudeness of the carving, one could easily misidentify this hieroglyph
with the TA-bird . Demarée comments on the peculiar form of the pA-bird,
which appears in a number of stelae including A9, A15, A16 and A17, noting
that it can only be the pA-bird which is depicted.62 Furthermore, the tail of the
pA-bird is clearly pronounced in contrast with that of the TA-bird. he name


continues on the next line with what appears to be the double diagonal strokes
which form the word pAy. It is worth noting here that the diagonal strokes
of the word pAy are not always to be read.63
he next set of hieroglyphs, consisting of a long vertical sign followed by
what appears to be the t hieroglyph over an ideogram-stroke, have proved
most frustrating in their reading and interpretation with several possible read-

1: hat the group of signs read tpy   with the individual’s name reading
ings proposed below.

PAy-tpy, meaning ‘he First One’. However, according the Ranke, the name
PAy-tpy was never used by the Egyptians.64 Furthermore, as mentioned previ-
ously, the signs which follow the tall narrow sign appear to be the t hieroglyph

2: hat the group of signs read wADt   . he wAD-sign might best explain
over the ideogram-stroke.

the umbel-like top of the sign which is present in the epigraphy. he t over
the ideogram-stroke, following the wAd sign, might best suit the reading wADt.
In fact, we may be dealing with a name PA-n-WADt, ‘He of Wadjet’, which can
sometimes be written without the genitive n. However, the wAD-sign would
not explain the bulbous lower end with upraised strokes. While the name PA-
n-WADt is not attested in Ranke similar theophorous names are.65

Murray (1963) 115–25; Drower (1985) 267–71; and in general Kemp (1982) 71–88.
60
Examinations of the Egypt Exploration Society’s archives on Abydos yielded no informa-
tion on the stela fragment.
61
Petrie (1902) 44, Pl. LXVI.
62
Demarée (1983) 35, 185.
63
Examples include Ranke, PN I, 116 [20], 117 [6], 118 [1].
64
Ranke, PN II, 175.
65
Examples include PA-n-Ast, PN I, 105 [21]; PA-n-Imn, PN I, 106 [8]; PA-n-Wsir, PN I, 107
144 K. Griin


3: hat the group of signs read snt   . he sn-sign followed by the t over the
ideogram-stroke is a possibility and might best explain the bulbous lower end
of the sign, and the horizontal dashes at the bottom. While the name PA-snt
is not attested by Ranke, the name PA-sn is.66
Following the name of the dedicatee there are a number of further signs
which have caused just as many problems. here are three possible answers as
to the reading of the signs.

glyphs reading mAa xrw  . his then appears to be followed by the Egyptian
Firstly, it is possible that on the extreme left of the stela we have two hiero-

 ‘before’ which one would expect to be followed by the name of the


word xr, 
god Osiris  giving a reading of ‘before Osiris’. However, if the above reading
of the text is correct then the word Osiris is missing despite the fact that there
is amble room for the scribe to carve the signs.
Secondly, it is possible that instead of the reading of mAa xrw, on the extreme
left, what we have is a new register line followed by the seated determinative
of the igure Osiris. his rendering would best it with the Egyptian word xr
and the inscription would thus give the name of the deceased followed by
the words ‘before Osiris’. However, there are a number of problems with this
alternative. Firstly, there are no other examples of Ax iqr n Ra stelae were the
dedicatee is said to be ‘before Osiris’. Secondly, why did the scribe engrave
the word xr evidently of centre from its line register? hirdly, why would the
scribe squeeze the hieroglyph of the god Osiris in the top corner when there
appears ample room for which to carve the sign? While the irst alternative

Finally, it is possible that the inscription actually reads tr  and not xr.
seems more attractive the word xr cannot be satisfactorily accounted for.

his could be interpreted as an abbreviated writing of a second name-ele-

ment, namely, Tury. However, it must be noted that Tury is not commonly
transcribed in this way.

While the name of the dedicatee remains elusive for now, it is hoped that
this paper might lead to other scholars ofering their thoughts on this some-
what odd fragment. Perhaps Alan, during your retirement you might want to
spend your long afternoons puzzling over this intriguing object!

[5]; PA-n-PtH, PN I, 108 [2]; PA-n-Nxbt, PN I, 109 [5] to list just a few examples.
66
Ranke, PN I, 117 [6].
 An Ax iqr n Ra Stela from the collection of the Egypt Centre, Swansea 145

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