17. Stela of Nenu and Sekhathor 

This funerary stela depicts a deceased husband and wife honored by the living members of their household. The husband, Nenu, wears a kilt with a red leather sash. He displays his long bow and rectangular sheaf of arrows as emblems of his success. The wife, Sekhathor, stands behind him wearing a typically Egyptian long wig and linen dress. A man, Genu, extends an offering of beer in the upper register. Below the daughter, Intefou, and her brother, Hesebkai, pay respects to their parents; she wears a red leather skirt, while he dons a fringed apron over his kilt, a red sash and an ornamental hairpin. The family collared dogs, ancestors of today’s ‘pharaoh hounds’, stand watch. The male figures have a red-brown skin tone, while the females are painted yellow-brown according to the gender art conventions of the time. The inscription reads “An offering given by the king, and Anubis […], in all his places good and pure; funerary offerings to the revered Nenu”, indicating the king’s appreciation. Despite the Egyptian style of the stela, the inscription identifies Nenu as ‘Nehesi’, a person from Nubia. The leather sashes and skirt, the fringed apron, and the dogs are further nods to Nubian culture. The ‘Nehesi’ ascription or self-identification seems to be applied at least to the children and Genu, based on costume details. It is unclear how much choice Nenu and his family had in constructing this funerary image, given that the stela was a gift from the central administration, but it does bring into focus the complexity of ancient identities and assimilation of people from Nubia in Egyptian society.