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Shabaka Stone

An object record bringing together its image, metadata, rights, and context.

A Memphite inscription from Shabaka’s reign, about 710 BCE, associating Ptah’s creation with heart and tongue; its ancient-copy claim does not independently date the wording.

Modern conceptual illustration of primeval water, an emerging mound and sunrise; neither an excavated Egyptian artifact nor a reconstruction of one text. © IL Archive, CC0.

Illustration — not a photograph of the original object

CC0 · Modern conceptual illustration: IL Archive / CC0

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Modern conceptual illustration of primeval water, an emerging mound and sunrise; neither an excavated Egyptian artifact nor a reconstruction of one text. © IL Archive, CC0

Object details

Title
Shabaka Stone
Rights
CC0

Metadata

These are descriptive fields, not conclusions.

Edition
2

Text

British Museum EA498 celebrates PtahPtahPtah is an Egyptian god associated with Memphis, craftsmanship and creationGlossary · Click to read the explanation and Memphis and invokes the devising heart and speaking tongue, though parts are damaged. The extant stone dates to Shabaka. Its claim to copy an ancient papyrus may construct authority; it does not prove that all of its wording is Old Kingdom. [5][6][13]

References and notes

  1. Museum catalogue, dating and curator note checked via indexed text after direct page open failed. British Museum, Shabaka Stone EA498, catalogue and curator note Return to the text ↑
  2. Full displayed translation and its lacuna marks read; Lichtheim’s entire volume was not read. Miriam Lichtheim translation of the Shabaka Stone, Ancient Egyptian Literature I, pp. 51–55, displayed by Attalus Return to the text ↑
  3. The museum’s entire one-page exhibition excerpt read; it is not the complete inscription. British Museum, Shabaka Stone exhibition transcript, one-page excerpt Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 12 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Shabaka Stone», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/artifacts/shabaka-stone