Classification(s)
- Communication
- Reproduction
- Sculpture
Dream Stela of Thutmose IV
CultureEgyptian
PeriodNew Kingdom
DynastyDynasty 18
Date1400-1390 BCE
MediumResin
Label TextBetween the front legs of the Great Sphinx at Giza stands a tell stela, a round-topped slab of granite, carbed in hieroglyphs. The Sphinx itself dates to King Khafre, also known as Chephren, a pharaoh from Dynasty 4 of Egypt's Old Kingdom (about 2576-2551 BCE). The stela as added later by King Thutmose IV, who lived around 1400 BCE in Dynasty 18. The two monuments are separated by 1,100 years.
STORY OF THE DREAM STELA:
Mirror image figures of Thutmose IV pouring libations and offering incense to the Sphinx appear at the top of the stela. Below are many horizontal lines of hieroglyphs. They tell a romantic story that was also a piece of royal propaganda: the young Prince Thutmose falls asleep at noontime in the shadow of the Sphinx's head. Thutmose dreams that the Sphinx appears to him in the form of the sun god. The Sphinx offers Thutmose the throne if he will only clear all the sand covering its body. After Thutmose does the bidding of the Sphinx and becomes king, he orders the creation of the stela using a granite block from Khafre's pyramid temple. This supposedly happened in Thutmose's first year as king, but this too may be propaganda, designed to support his "divine right" to the throne.
CAST OF THE DREAM STELA:
This stela reproduction was mode from an older plaster cast of the original Dream Stela of Thutmose IV. Fabricating modern recreations of ancient artworks is a form of cultural preservation. The new resin cast includes important lines of hieroglyphic text that are no longer preserved on the original stela at Giza today. Our stela reproduction was fabricated in collaboration with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Our thanks go to Egyptologist Dr. Marleen De Meyer and to the Elson Family Arts Initiative Fund and the Barajas Dean's Innovation Fund for Digital Arts and Humanities.
DescriptionRelief cast of "Dream Stela"STORY OF THE DREAM STELA:
Mirror image figures of Thutmose IV pouring libations and offering incense to the Sphinx appear at the top of the stela. Below are many horizontal lines of hieroglyphs. They tell a romantic story that was also a piece of royal propaganda: the young Prince Thutmose falls asleep at noontime in the shadow of the Sphinx's head. Thutmose dreams that the Sphinx appears to him in the form of the sun god. The Sphinx offers Thutmose the throne if he will only clear all the sand covering its body. After Thutmose does the bidding of the Sphinx and becomes king, he orders the creation of the stela using a granite block from Khafre's pyramid temple. This supposedly happened in Thutmose's first year as king, but this too may be propaganda, designed to support his "divine right" to the throne.
CAST OF THE DREAM STELA:
This stela reproduction was mode from an older plaster cast of the original Dream Stela of Thutmose IV. Fabricating modern recreations of ancient artworks is a form of cultural preservation. The new resin cast includes important lines of hieroglyphic text that are no longer preserved on the original stela at Giza today. Our stela reproduction was fabricated in collaboration with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Our thanks go to Egyptologist Dr. Marleen De Meyer and to the Elson Family Arts Initiative Fund and the Barajas Dean's Innovation Fund for Digital Arts and Humanities.
Casted by: Adam Aja (2012-2016)
Painter: Sarah Milton
Modern reproduction in resin, based on plaster cast from the 1860s
Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Thutmose IV, about 1400-1390 BCE
Supplemental Information
Object number2017.1.1
Collections
- Egypt
- Collection Highlights
Exhibitions
On View
On view
