Stela of Kemes

Stela of Kemes

Period: Middle Kingdom

Dynasty: Dynasty 13

Date: ca. 1750–1720 BC

Geography: From Egypt

Medium: Limestone

Dimensions: L. 66.2 cm (26 1/16 in.); H. 73.4 cm (28 7/8 in.); W. 33.9 cm (13 3/8 in.)

Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 2014

Accession Number: 2014.283a, b

 This monument, dedicated to a man named Kemes, is a rare example of a memorial stela with a powerful architectural presence. The artist chose isolated elements found in a tomb complex and recombined them into a single novel and evocative monument: a three-dimensional stela, rather than the traditional single-sided type. The different elements were visually and creatively unified around its core. The structure and decorative scheme of this stela suggests it had a commemorative purpose, as stelae could, and was not intended to mark a tomb. Kemes was likely buried in a different location.

 

Met Museum

 

metmuseum.org