Stela of Ba
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
The owner of this funerary stela, a man named Ba, is shown sitting in front of an offering table and sniffing a lotus while receiving a libation. According to the text, the stela was a gift, presumably from Ba’s son, Mes, who is depicted between his parents. Because the image of Ba is in the center, the right side of the composition is so crowded that the female attendant seems to be pouring liquid onto Ba’s feet. Her extreme slenderness is typical of early Dynasty 18 figures.
MEDIUM
Limestone
DATES
ca. 1539–1425 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 18
PERIOD
New Kingdom
DIMENSIONS
15 3/8 x 9 3/8 x 2 1/4 in. (39 x 23.8 x 5.7 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
85.113
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Jack A. Josephson in honor of Bernard V. Bothmer
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
One round topped limestone stela with a slender woman at the extreme right, facing left, libating and standing in front of an offering table. Three figures on the other side of table.
Condition: The entire surface is covered with a thin layer of dirt; there is an old repair running diagonally across the stela's center, the lower portion of the stela is restored.
CAPTION
Stela of Ba, ca. 1539–1425 B.C.E. Limestone, 15 3/8 x 9 3/8 x 2 1/4 in. (39 x 23.8 x 5.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Jack A. Josephson in honor of Bernard V. Bothmer, 85.113. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 85.113_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 85.113_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2016
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
What are these?
These stelae show deceased individuals receiving offerings of food that their souls needed in order to have a successful and comfortable afterlife.