The Stela of ??rwt and Her Two Late Husbands from the Middle Kingdom: Cairo CG 20105

Abstract

This paper is the publication of a remarkable stela from Abydos currently displayed at the Cairo Museum CG20105. The stela can be dated to the early Twelfth Dynasty, reign of Amenemhat I, on the basis of its iconographical, stylistic, epigraphical, and palaeographical details, without excluding the possibility of a little earlier date (i.e., end of the Eleventh Dynasty). The stela is interesting in that it was commissioned for a lady called ??rwt and thus officially owned by that lady, who decided to broaden the concept of ownership by including her two deceased husbands on her monument. It is especially important in furnishing an important example of levirate marriage from ancient Egypt, since the lady’s husbands were brothers or at least half brothers. The author describes the stela, deals with it artistically and discusses the names of its individuals, and the title assigned to the lady’s second husband ‘b-k3w(’I?w?).