Observations on Stela Metropolitan Museum 12.183.8

Abstract

The ancient Egyptian false-door stela of Neferiu from the Denderite nome has several unusual features: on the right jambs he boasts that “nourished (even) the great in the year of famine” and claims that the god Iqer awarded him prosperous longevity; on the left he is depicted as a portly old man; etc. How can these peculiarities be explained? During the First Intermediate Period in the Denderite nome false-door stelae were a luxury appropriate only for top officials and their nearest relatives. However, the false door of Neferiu is an exception to this rule. He is not said to have held any office, and although his ranking titles seem relatively high, we know that at that period such titles were often appropriated by provincials devoid of top positions. Thus, on account of his low “official status” (if any at all), Neferiu needed to inventively justify his moral right to his prestigious false door, and this is the purport of his inscription on its right jambs. The reference to “nourishing (even) the great” implies that in the year of famine Neferiu, owing to his wealth and generosity, turned out to be a more useful person for his town than even its top officials. His claims that he “was aggrandized beyond great men and officials” and praised by “the entire town” also put him on a par with local magnates. His prosperous longevity, “documented” by his “elderly” representation on the left, is said to have been granted by the god Iqer (in gratitude for the salvation of his townspeople, the god’s flock and providers). Meanwhile, it was mostly nomarchs and overseers of priests who attributed their good fortune to the favor of a local god. So, since Neferiu was a man useful for his town no less than its top officials, was he not - just like them - also worthy of a false-door?