A Boy’s Gravestone from Middle Egypt

Abdel-Fattah, Abdel-Basset Ali

doi:10.21608/iwnw.2024.400969

A Boy’s Gravestone from Middle Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Abdel-Basset Ali Abdel-Fattah

department of Graeco-Roman Archaeology/ Faculty of Archaeology and Languages/ Matrouh University, Egypt

10.21608/iwnw.2024.400969

Abstract

The paper deals with an unpublished gravestone (Inv. No. 644, the SCA el-Ashmunein Archaeological Magazine/Storeroom) of a boy standing before a richly decorated niche. He is dressed in a simple long-sleeved tunic with a big round neckline. Clutched in his left hand is a bunch of grapes, whereas the object in his right hand could be a floral garland. Nothing is known about this stele's owner, date, and provenance. An analytical study of the relief carving style and the architectural form of the niche has demonstrated that the gravestone should be attributed to Oxyrhynchus, and dated towards the end of the 3rd or the early 4th century AD. It is also proposed that the funerary relief was of a boy of high social standing, a member of the elite living in Roman Egypt at this time.

Keywords

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