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The Stele of Ankh-af-na-Khonsu

Funerary Stele of Ankh-af-na-Khonsu - front and back

Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Temporary Register Number 25/12/24/11

(previous catalog numbers: Egyptian Museum 4784, A 9422 and before that Boulaq 666).

Color corrected and repaired images © Wandering Stars Publishing 2021

All Rights Reserved

The Stele of Ankh-af-na-Khonsu is an ancient Egyptian wooden funerary offering tablet dated to circa 680–670 BCE, the period of the late 25th Dynasty/early 26th Dynasty. It was discovered in 1858 during excavations directed by French archaeologist François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette of a tomb near the mortuary temple of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh/Queen Hatshepsut, located at Deir Al Bahari, the West Bank of Luxor.

Crafted by a temple artisan for a priest named Ankh-af-na-Khonsu of the Montu temple at Karnak (located due East across the Nile just several miles away), the stele was reportedly discovered leaning near his coffin ensemble of two sarcophagi with two anthropomorphic inner coffins.

Measuring approximately 51.5 centimeters (20 ¼”) high by 31 centimeters (12 3/16”) wide, and estimated to be around 2 centimeters (¾”) thick, it’s made of wood, possibly sycamore, which was covered with a white plaster gesso and then painted with red, green, yellow, blue, white, black and indigo pigments, with black hieroglyph registers on both sides. The front, sides and top part of the back were then coated with a semi-gloss sealant which was pigmented with translucent golden gamboge* (as first noted by Aleister Crowley in his 1904 diary from which I will quote later).

The background of the vignette was originally white gesso, which was then coated with the golden varnish, which has likely darkened somewhat over the past 2,700 years. The background of the hieroglyph registers on both front and back were painted gamboge yellow, and the overcoat turned those on the front a dark golden ochre color. The varnish was not used on the backside for the most part, the hieroglyph registers retaining the original yellow background along with red painted borders, excepting the top arched portion with no hieroglyphs where the old museum number labels are affixed.

On the front, Ankh-af-na-Khonsu is depicted clothed in white linen with the priestly vestment of leopard skin, presenting offerings on an altar to the hawk or falcon-headed god-form Ra Horakhty (meaning "Ra - Horus of the Two Horizons"), the Lord of the West, seated upon his throne. The colored objects or “loaves” standing on the altar represent “thousands” while the hieroglyphs below identify these as cattle, fowl, bread and beer. Below these is the hieroglyph III, a symbol of infinity. Above these two figures is a depiction of Nut, or Nuit, the sky goddess, arching from horizon to horizon, her hands and feet touching the earth. Directly beneath her is the winged disk, called “the Great God B’Hedet”, or Hadit.

The stele was damaged soon after its discovery, first by careless sweaty hands carrying it, which removed some of the gamboge finish in front of the priest exposing the white gesso underneath, and smeared the red lines and left a dirty palm print on the lower right of the back. Also there appears to be moisture splash damage, presumably drops of sweat, although water may have seeped into the tomb from an occasional rain. This damage is apparent predominantly within the indigo painted areas, which don’t appear to have been varnished. The damage above the priest’s head may have also happened at this time, but it looks much older, and appears to expose the wood beneath. There were also two holes at the top drilled by the Boulaq museum in the body of the goddess to attach a label, presumably 666, which was later removed, leaving two unsightly holes and chipped paint.

The stele was first displayed in the former Boulaq Museum with the interesting inventory number 666 (the original label is presumably still attached to the back of the stele), before being moved around 1902 to the new Egyptian Museum of Cairo and given another number, 4784. It was later given inventory number A 9422.

There it remained until the Revolution in 2011. The museum is adjacent to the epicenter of the revolt, Taharqa Square in Cairo, and was unfortunately broken into by a mob of looters - the stele’s glass case apparently having been smashed in the melee’. According to the authority I spoke to at the Cairo Museum in 2018, the stele wasn’t among the stolen objects, and was placed into storage as Temporary Register Number 25/12/24/11, possibly requiring repair. He added that, being such a stand-out object, it may be displayed again at the new Grand Egyptian Museum, slated to open later in 2022. We shall see if it turns up…

For a detailed description, explanation and translation of the hieroglyphic text of the Stele of Ankh-af-na-Khonsu by contemporary Egyptological method, please visit Doug Blake’s outstanding YouTube presentation linked below:

The following is a translation of the Stele text, by Dr. Alan Gardiner and Battiscombe Gunn:

STELE OF ANKH-AF-NA-KHONSU.

OBVERSE.

Topmost Register (under Winged Disk).

B’hedet, the Great God, the Lord of Heaven.

Middle Register.

Two vertical lines to left: –

Ra-Harakhti, Master of the Gods.

Five vertical lines to right: —

Osiris, the Priest of Montu, Lord of Thebes, Opener of the doors of Nut in Karnak, Ankh-af-na-Khonsu, the Justified.

Below Altar: –

Oxen, Geese, Wine, Bread.

Behind the god is the hieroglyph of Amenti.

Lowest Register.

(1) Saith Osiris, the Priest of Montu, Lord of Thebes, the Opener of the Doors of Nut in Karnak, Ankh-af-na-Khonsu, (2) the Justified: — “Hail, Thou whose praise is high (the highly praised), thou great-willed, O Soul (ba) very awful (lit. mighty of awe) that giveth the terror of him (3) among the Gods, shining in glory upon his great throne, making ways for the Soul (ba), for the Spirit (yekh) and for the Shadow (khabt). I am prepared, and I shine forth as one that is prepared. (4) I have made way to the place in which are Ra, Atum, Khepri and Hathor.”

Osiris, the Priest of Montu, Lord of Thebes, (5) Ankh-af-na-Khonsu, the Justified; son of MNBSNMT (The father's name. The method of spelling shows that he was a foreigner. There is no clue to the vocalization); born of the Sistrum-bearer of Amon, the Lady Atne-sher.

REVERSE

Eleven lines of writing.

(1) Saith Osiris, the Priest of Montu, Lord of Thebes, Ankh-af- (2)na-Khonsu, the Justified:—“My heart from my mother, my heart from my mother, my heart of my existence (3) upon earth, stand not forth against me as a witness, drive me not back (4) among the Sovereign Judges, neither incline against me in the presence of the Great God, the Lord of the West. (5) Now that I am united with Earth in the Great West, and endure no longer upon Earth.”

(6) Saith Osiris, he who is in Thebes, Ankh-f-na-Khonsu, the Justified: “O Only- (7)One, shining like (or in) the Moon; Osiris Ankh-af- (8)na-Khonsu has come forth upon high among these thy multitudes. (9) He that gathereth together those that are in the Light, the Underworld (duat) is [also] (10) opened to him; lo, Osiris Ankh-f-na-Khonsu, cometh forth by (11) day to do all that he wisheth upon earth among the living.”

*Notes on Gamboge pigment:

Also known as rattan or wisteria yellow, gummi gutta and drop gum, gamboge is an organic pigment produced from a tropical tree resin. Well known for its transparency, the warm golden pigment derives its name from its country of origin – Cambodia.

The Latin word for the pigment, gambaugium or gambogium, is taken from the Roman name for Cambodia  - Gambogia. In French it’s Cambodge and in Portuguese Camboja. All of these words are derived from Middle Khmer Kambuja (Modern Khmer កម្ពុជា (kampuciə)). Folk etymologies relate the name of these people to a figure called Kambu.  Ultimately it appears to stem linguistically from Sanskrit काम्बोज kāmboja, the name of the tribe mentioned in Hindu scripture. This makes the pigment and dye very likely to be very ancient indeed.

Gamboge is made from the resin of one of several species of the Garcinia evergreen tree, mostly xanthochymus or gummi-gutta sp., found across south-east Asia. The trees need to be at least 10 years old before the trunks can be lacerated or the branches broken to collect the poisonous, milky yellow sap. The edible fruit is not toxic, however. This sap/resin is gathered in empty bamboo shoots, which are then roasted over fire to evaporate moisture, and then broken to reveal dull yellow resin cylinders. Only when this resin is pulverized does it become a brilliant yellow. Unfortunately, genuine gamboge has poor lightfastness, so finding traces in old paintings can be difficult.

In the Middle Ages, gamboge was used to paint ornamental letters and illustrations by middle-eastern Christian monks. First brought to Europe in 1603, and recognized as a distinct color 40 years later, it was briefly used as a cure for rheumatism and high blood pressure, and as a purgative cleanser. But after even small doses often proved lethal, it quickly lost popularity…! The Flemish school of artists used gamboge as a transparent oil color or varnish and can be found in Rembrandt’s works in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden. JMW Turner also used gamboge as an oil color, though he quickly realized that it worked best as a watercolor in transparent washes.

It is fascinating that with the discovery of this ancient Egyptian funerary artifact, among others, we can now add gamboge pigment to the botanicals imported by Egypt from east Asian sources (cinnamon and camphor being particularly notable) revealing that ancient Egypt and/or its seafaring neighbors were globally capable sea-trading civilizations. Being secreted in a dark, dry tomb for over 2700 years kept the gamboge finish and paint used on the stele intact and vibrant – testimony to the ancient Egyptian artists’ uncanny mastery of pigment alchemy. The damaged areas of the Stele of Revealing show us that the gamboge varnish may have been water soluble, evidenced by the splash marks and the way it rubbed off on the front due to careless handling with sweaty hands.

Prior to the ancient Egyptian tomb artifact discoveries, the first historical appearance of gamboge was in 8th-century watercolors from east Asia. It was also used in Thailand in the 12th century on a black (khoi) paper scroll. It seems that the east Asians were using it as a dye long before that though since the ancient Egyptians were clearly importing it from them.

About The Stele of Ankh-af-na-Khonsu © 2022 Shane Clayton - Wandering Stars Publishing - All Rights Reserved

Wandering Stars is dedicated to expounding the Sacred Science of Ancient Egypt

In memory and in honor of John Anthony West

Born July 9, 1932 - Wested February 6, 2018

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