The lower area features five columns of hieroglyphs. On each side are pairs of seated figures separated by (top to bottom) the girdle of Isis, the djed column, and two upright uraei (serpents). The first two elements are reversed on the right-hand panel.
The hieroglyphs (reading from the top right down the columns) translate as below:
‘Words spoken by Osiris Khenti-Amentiu, Great God, Lord of Abydos, Seker-Osiris who is in the coffin, Isis, Great One, Mut who is in Panopolis, Seshat, Great One who is in Panopolis, Anubis, Lord of the necropolis, Osiris, Lord of Khetyw, Min, Mesthi, Hapi, Duamutif, Kebehseuuf: Protection for the Osiris Mehit-em-Wesekht, daughter of the stolistes … born of the lady, the sistrum player of Min, Nefer-ii …’ |
The first part of the inscription lists gods. Osiris was god of the underworld and afterlife. Mummies were ritually associated with Osiris, hence the reference to Mehit as Osiris Mehit-em-Wesekht. A stolist (the role of Mehit’s father) was a priest who cared for the statue of a god – in this case, the god Min in the temple at Panopolis. A sistrum was a sacred instrument played during temple services. Mehit’s mother, Nefer-ii, was a musician priestess in the Temple of Min. |
