An Egyptian Clay Funerary Cone for the chief steward of the Divine Adoratress, Pa-ba-sai, 26th Dynasty, ca. 664 - 525 BCE

of conical form the oval face with impressed text in raised relief that reads, 'The Osiris, prophet of Amun-re king of the gods, overseer of the prophets of the gods of Upper Egypt, overseer of Upper Egypt in its entirety, chief steward of the Divine Adoratress, Pa-ba-sai, son of the 'god's beloved' priest Pa-di-bastet, his mother being Ta-senet-hor.'

cf: Macadam and Davies, 'Corpus of Inscribed Funerary Cones,' #468.

The father, Pa-di-Bastet whose good name was Psamtik-seneb, was the hereditary prince, count and Overseer of the Prophets in the temples of Thinis and Karnak. For the same man see Cairo, JE 38021.

cf: Bothmer, ESLP, nos 28, 39, 44 and 48. A good steatite statue of Pa-di-Bastet was sold at Sotheby's 9th December 1981, lot #169.

Dimensions: Face diameter: 8.5 cm (3.3 inches), Length: 17 cm (6.7 inches)

Condition: Tail missing and small loss to the bottom left corner, otherwise intact.

Provenance: Private collection of Dr. U. Mueller, Switzerland, acquired prior to 1978.