Description
The beautiful hieroglyphs on this vessel identify its owner and the ritual in which it was used. On the left is King Pepi I's Horus name (one of a king's five names), "Beloved of the Two Lands [Egypt]." At center is his throne name, Mery-re; below are brief, symmetrical texts reading, "given life and dominion forever." On the right is a text, "First day of the Sed-festival." If an Egyptian king reigned for thirty years, he performed a ritual of renewal, the Sed-festival, in which this vessel would have been used.
Provenance
Dikran Kelekian, Paris and New York, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1914, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Inscriptions
[Translation] The Horus, Mery-tawy (Beloved of the Two Lands); King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Mery-re (Beloved of Re); First occasion of the Sed-festival; Given life and dominion forever, given life and dominion forever; [Translation] Right column: "First of the Sed Festival" Middle column: "King of Upper and Lower Egypt", Mery-Ra Left column: "Horus name=Mery-tawy"; Horizontally " Given life and happiness forever" (this twice)
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1914
