The overseer of the treasury Meri-re, who is shown here receiving mortuary offerings, appears in the prestigious role of royal instructor. In his lap sits a royal prince to whom he is offering fruit. Both teacher and pupil are dressed in pleated garments. The prince is wearing a cone of ointment on his head, which has the lock of youth, a tuft or a tress hanging from the side of his otherwise bare head. The inscription names the prince as Si-atum, a name which is known from the relevant period only from one other source.
An offering which the king gives to Re-Harakhty, the sole god, to the one who lives from truth, so that he may give that (my) corpse will last without destruction, and that (my) soul will rest daily in its place. (May he also give) justification in heaven with Re, power on earth with Geb, for the Ka of [the Overseer of the Treasury Meri-re]. An offering which the king gives to Ptah-Sokar, the Lord of Shetit, so that he may give the receiving of offering bread and of provisions, sustenance, and food, which continue every day, for the Ka of the Nomarch and Count, the Sealbearer of the King of Lower Egypt, the sole friend, the Overseer of the Treasury, Meri-re [true of voice]. ... offerings. Adoring his beauty daily, ... of the justified ones of the Dat by the Nomarch and Count, the Overseer of the Treasury, Meri-re. He says: greetings to you, Re-Harakhti-Atum, Lord of the Two Lands, Heliopolitan one! May you cause me to be among your beloved ones in the beautiful places of the just! His sister, whom he loves, his favourite, whom the good god has loved, the mistress of the house, Baket. The Nomarch and Count, the overseer of the tutors of the good god, the Overseer of the Treasury, Meri-re. The royal son whom his father loves, Si-atum. His sister, whom he loves, his favourite, whom the good god has praised, the mistress of the house, Baket-amun the justified. Their daughter Tay. For your Ka, a bouquet of flowers of Ptah with the beautiful face. He praises you, he loves you, he causes you to last. May he give a wonderful life span, while you follow happiness. An offering which the king gives to Osiris, the Lord of Busiris, the great god, the lord of eternity, so that he may give a funerary offering of bread and beer, meat and poultry, linen and alabaster, incense [and ointment], cool water, wine and milk, all good and pure things on which a god lives, breathing the sweet breath of the north wind [...] for the Ka of the Nomarch and Count, the royal scribe, the Overseer of Royal Estates of his Majesty, [Meri-re].
Bibliography
Bergmann, E. von, Inschriftliche Denkmäler der Sammlung ägyptischer Alterthümer des österreichisches Kaiserhauses, in: Recueil de Travaux rélatifs à la philologie et à l'archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes (RecTrav) 9 (1887) 47, Nr. 18.
Hüttner, M. & H. Satzinger, Stelen, Inschriftsteine und Reliefs aus der Zeit der 18. Dynastie. Corpus Antiquitatum Aegyptiacarum (CAA) Wien 16 (In Begutachtung).
Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM). Führer durch die Sammlungen. Wien. 1988.
Satzinger, H., Das Kunsthistorische Museum in Wien. Die Ägyptisch-Orientalische Sammlung. Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie 14. Mainz. 1994.
Katalog "Egypt's Dazzling Sun. Amenhotep an his World", Cleveland (1992).
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