The Stela

For context, let’s first look at the stela as a whole. Ipu’s stela was part of the collection of Giovanni d’Anastasi, which was bought by the National Museum of Antiquities in 1828. L. Weiss, N. Staring, and H. Twiston Davies, Sakkara: Leven in een Dodenstad, (Leiden, 2020), 29-30. Though the archaeological context of the stela is unknown, it is probable that it originated from Saqqara, which was one of the regions in which d’Anastasi was active with buying and trading in antiquities. Therefore we don’t know exactly where this stela originally stood, but it may have had a place in a tomb or small chapel.

The ancient Egyptians believed that in the afterlife they would need much the same things as they did in this life, such as food, beer, clothing, cosmetics and furniture. One of the functions of a stela was to ensure that the deceased received these offerings in the afterlife. This was done by way of the images and texts of the stela, because writing or saying something would make it real.