Stela of Amenemhat and Yatu

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Middle Kingdom, late Dynasty 12–early Dynasty 13, about 1870–1770 BCE

Egyptian; possibly Memphis, Egypt

This round-topped stela (or commemorative monument) depicts a mother and son surrounded by the objects they hoped to use in the afterlife. The mother, Yatu, and her son, Amenemhat, sit in chairs with oversized cosmetic containers placed underneath. The distinctive flared shape of the white and red vessel beneath Yatu indicates that it holds ointment. Under Amenemhat’s seat, a thin, white applicator sticks out of a blue jar containing eye paint called kohl. The vessel’s color suggests that it is carved out of anhydrite, a fashionable choice for cosmetic vessels during the Middle Kingdom period when this mother and son lived.

Status: On View, Gallery 50
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Stela of Amenemhat and Yatu
Place: Egypt (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1870 BCE–1770 BCE
Medium: Limestone and pigment
Inscriptions: Prayer, in four horizontal lines, for "a royal offering of Osiris, Lord of 'Life of the Two Lands' (a quarter in Memphis). May he give a mortuary offering of bread and beer, oxen and geese, linen, clothing, every good and pure thing whereon [the god] lives, for the ka of the gaurdsman Amenhemat, deceased, born of Yatu, deceased, (and for the ka of) his mother, his beloved, Yatu, deceased, born of Tita, deceased.
Dimensions: 62.3 × 45.8 × 9.6 cm (24 1/2 × 18 × 3 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson
Reference Number: 1892.35
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/127894/manifest.json

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Art Institute of Chicago/University of Chicago Press, 1923), pp. 37-40 (ill.), 91 n.
Jaromír Málek, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Statues, Reliefs, and Paintings. VIII: Objects of Provenance Not Known. Part 3. Stelae (Early Dynastic Period to Dynasty XVII) (Griffith Institute, Oxford, 2007), p. 139 no. 803-028-560.
Ashley Arico,“Reading Ancient Egyptian Art: A Curator Answers Common Questions,” Art Institute of Chicago ARTicle, July 14, 2020.

Art Institute of Chicago, Life and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, Feb. 11, 2022 - present.

The Art Institute of Chicago, acquired in Egypt, 1892; purchased with funds provided by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1892.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.