This object was excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition, but was not recorded in any object register book. 1912: Excavated by the Harvard University–Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; 1912: assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Egypt. (Accession Date: December 5, 1912)

Findspot: Western Cemetery, Mastaba G 4140

Dimensions/Weight: Height x width x depth: 51 x 82.5 x 8.3 cm (20 1/16 x 32 1/2 x 3 1/4 in.)

Classification: Architectural elements

Description: Limestone slab stela of Meretites; female figure, wearing long wig and sheath dress, sits before table of bread loaves, facing her are registers containing lists of offerings, while further to right are compartments containing lists of linen and grain; executed in low relief [this stela is one of the finest examples of Dynasty 4 carving].

Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition

Selected Published References:
Brovarski, Edward, and Ronald J. Leprohon. Corpus Antiquitatum Aegyptiacarum. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Loose-Leaf Catalogue of Egyptian Antiquities. Mainz/Rhein: P. von Zabern, 1978, cat. 12.1510. D'Auria, Sue, Peter Lacovara, and Catharine H. Roehrig. Mummies & Magic: The Funerary Arts of Ancient Egypt. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1988, pp. 94-95, cat. 27. Freed, Rita E., Lawrence M. Berman, and Denise M. Doxey. Arts of Ancient Egypt. MFA Highlights. Boston: MFA Publications, 2003, p. 73. Jánosi, Peter. "Der Tote vor dem Opfertisch. Die Opferplatten von Giza. Besprechung des Buches Slab Stelae of the Giza Necropolis von Peter Der Manuelian." Sokar 10 (1. Halbjahr 2005), p. 19. Manuelian, Peter Der. Slab Stelae of the Giza Necropolis. Publications of the Pennsylvania–Yale Expedition to Egypt 7. New Haven and Philadelphia: Peabody Museum of Natural History of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2003, pp. 24-25, pls. 23-24, p. 93, fig. 131. Mercer, Samuel A. B. The Pyramid Texts 4. 1st. ed. New York: Longmans, Green, 1952, p. 146, pl. 4.30. Reisner, George A. "Accessions to the Egyptian Department During 1914." Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 13, No. 76 (April 1915), p. 29. Reisner, George A. A History of the Giza Necropolis 1. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1942, pp. 64-65, 306, 460-62, fig. 280, pls. 46, 57a. Smith, William Stevenson. Ancient Egypt as Represented in the Museum of Fine Arts. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1942, pp. 31-32. Smith, William Stevenson. Ancient Egypt as Represented in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1960 (6th ed.), p. 34. Smith, William Stevenson. "The Coffin of Prince Min-Khaf." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 19 (1933), p. 151. Smith, William Stevenson. A History of Egyptian Sculpture and Painting in the Old Kingdom. London: Oxford University Press, 1946, p. 25, 159, 302. Smith, William Stevenson. "The Old Kingdom Linen List." Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 71 (1935), pp. 135, 143, 146, 147.