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in the mortuary temple of the deified king. Based on this concept, it can also be supposed
that he carried out his duty as ‘royal wb?’ in the royal palace in Thebes.
The importance of the stele from an historical perspective is that it proves the exist¬
ence of the funerary cult of Horemheb,‘” who is represented on the object. His depiction
in his divinized position does not refer to the absolute date of the stele, but gives a ter¬
minus post quem for its making and for the life of its owner. Indicators for the absolute
dating, however, are the stylistic characteristics of the figures, since the impression of
the art of the Amarna period can hardly be recognized, at the same time, initial signs
of the typical artistic features of the Ramesside era have already appeared.“° The depic¬
tion on the back of the stele also supports the actual dating. The surface on its rear is
rather rough, a goddess is depicted emerging from a tree, pouring water from two vessels,
while ba-birds are drinking the poured water from their hands before the tree. This type
of scene was quite common during the New Kingdom, however, the domination of the
water donation and the addition of ba-birds are an innovation from the end of the 18"
— beginning of the 19"" dynasty. This coincides with the narrowed time limit of Bresciani
for the date of the stele to the reigns of Ramesses I or Sety L.‘5
In the second and third registers of the stele, family members of Ptahpatener are
depicted, however, their relationship is somewhat doubtful. The identity of the two
brothers of Ptahpatener in the third register is unambiguous. At the same time, the
woman standing behind Ptahpatener in the second register, named Tauser, as well as
the woman sitting behind him in the third register, named Henut, is designated as sn.t=f
‘his sister’, based on which it cannot be determined whether the term refers to a wife or
an actual sister. The labels, however, above and behind another woman sitting in the
third register behind Henut seem to confirm the meaning of the term as wife. This
woman is Nebui and the small inscription behind her refers to her and Henut as sisters,
whose mother is a certain Nakhtmut. According to these labels naming Henut as a
sister, but not using the term in the case of Nebui, despite their having a common mother,
one might conclude that Nakhtmut must have been the mother-in-law of Ptahpatener,
while Henut and Nebui his wife and sister-in-law, respectively. As for Tauser, her posi¬
tion in the scene indicates that she is another wife of Ptahpatener, although there is also
‘9 Bresciani, 1985, 70; Ferrari — Piacentini, 1990, 129; Morigi — Govi, 1994, 36.
40 Ferrari — Piacentini, 1990, 129.
© Bresciani, 1985, 68, Ferrari — Piacentini, 1990, 129.
‘= For. a detailed discussion on the tree goddesses and the water donation in these type of scenes in
the transitional period between the 18" and 19" dynasty, see Keel, 1992, 74-76.
5° Bresciani, 1985, 70.