Urban centers from Saqqara south to Assiut, including Herakleopolis where vestiges of the Memphite court likely relocated, understandably produced material closest to the earlier models, although on a much smaller scale. Old Kingdom multi-roomed tomb chapels were reduced to several (usually three) relief-decorated slabs featuring the most essential themes for the afterlife. Similar to late Old Kingdom examples, reliefs from these so-called ‘‘stela-chapels’’ contain relatively few widely spaced figures that tend to be flat and devoid of modeling and lack all but the most essential incised details. Decorated tombs at many sites exhibited their unique local stamp during the First Intermediate Period. One example is Naga ed-Deir, (located near Abydos) where tomb decoration is reduced to a single slab of stone inserted into the wall of a rock-cut offering room (Dunham 1937: 2). The sole adornment on these stelae, which may be either in raised or sunk relief, is the tomb-owner with his wife and family members standing beside a pile of food offerings. Above is a short funerary inscription. Their distinctive color palette includes vibrant reds, yellows, and greens.
The artist’s attempt to follow the Old Kingdom canon is shown by the incised vertical axis line and horizontal lines bisecting the same strategic body parts as they
Figure 39.1 Boston, MFA 98.1034. Stela of Meny, Dynasty 9, limestone. From Dendera, Egypt Exploration Fund by subscription. Photograph © 2010 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Did in the Old Kingdom (Barta 1970: 94ff.). Despite this, body proportions deviate substantially from earlier examples. For example, on many sunk relief stelae from Naga ed-Deir (Dunham 1937: 17-8 and pl.4, 1) too small heads connect directly to neck-less torsos from which elongated limbs dangle. Waists are too high and feet are too large. What these stelae lack in sophistication, they make up in folkish charm, thanks, in part, to their well-preserved paint. Other sites in Upper Egypt, including Assiut, Akhmim, Beni Hasan, el-Bersha, Dendera, Thebes, Moalla, Gebelein, and Aswan, also developed their own unique and readily identifiable variants of the Old Kingdom style.
Dendera is a particularly important site in the development of Middle Kingdom art because its relief style influenced that of Thebes, homeland of Mentuhotep II, the reuinifier of Egypt and first king of the Middle Kingdom (Fischer 1968). With its large raised-relief figure and hieroglyphs the stela of Meny (figure 39.1) is typical of the Dendera style. The raised areas have smoothly rounded edges, and the interior of the figure is highly modeled, giving it a more lifelike appearance. Additionally, details such as Meny’s wig, multi-strand necklace and kilt and a number of hieroglyphs were intricately and skillfully incised.
World History
