A work in progress

Perhaps the most striking section of this stela is the bottom part, as it is clearly not finished. At first glance, it appears to be empty, but upon closer inspection, it is possible to see traces of sketches in red and black ink. This tells us a lot about the working process of ancient Egyptian artists.

On this part of the stela, multiple figures can be seen sketched in red ink. In black ink, short columns of texts are added for each figure. On the left, facing right, three men and a woman are depicted. On the right of the stela, facing left, three women and a man. They are all sitting with one knee up. The men have one hand outstretched and hold the other towards their bodies, the women are sniffing at lotus-flowers. These people are most likely other family members of Sehetepibreankh and Nedjemu. The black text probably describes their relationship to Sehetepibreankh, their title, and their name. The four figures facing right have the best preserved text. We can discern on the far left a lector priest called Senebef, next to him a man called Wenenneferu, and to the far right an official by the name of Antef.