Sehetepibreankh

Now, let’s meet Sehetepibreankh. He is shown seated on the left part of the stela in front of a table laden with foods like meats, bread, fruit and vegetables. He would be needing these in the afterlife, and one of the functions of this stela was to make sure Sehetepibreankh was (magically) supplied with food forever. His body is painted red, and he is wearing a short kilt and a collar. In his hands he holds a napkin. On this stela only the red paint is preserved, but originally the entire stela would probably have been painted in different colors.

The text in vertical columns directly above Sehetepibreankh is dedicated to him. As we will see, each person on the stela is depicted as being seated right beneath their own text. Sehetepibreankh’s text is read from right to left, and can be divided into three parts: an offering formula, a listing of his functions and titles, and an ‘appeal to the living’. We will take a look at each one.