A rare intact pyramid capstone; it is one of the few known in existence. The capstone belonged to the Black Pyramid, which was built by King Amenemhat III, c 1850-1800 BC.
The hand carving shows a solar disc with two cobras and outstretched wings (sign of protection) on each side. Below are two eyes (which refers to “seeing”) and below that is the hieroglyph for “beauty” and finally below that is the hieroglyph for the “sun disc of Ra” (the ancient Egyptian deity of the sun). Put that all together and it reads: “Seeing the beauty of Ra”.
Now we move to the left, which reads: “The Son of Ra, Amenemhat (in cartouche), given life forever.”
Now go back to the center and read right: “King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nimaatre (in cartouche), given life forever.”
The second line reads from right to left: “May the face of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nimaatre, be opened so that he may see the Lord of the Horizon (Horakhty, Horus of the Horizon) when he crosses the sky; may the Lord of the Horizon cause the Son of Ra, Amenemhat, to shine as a god, lord of eternity and indestructible.”
The third line reads from right to left: “The Lord of the Horizon has said: ‘I have given the beautiful horizon of the Two Ladies (Nebty) and Itjijautawy (He who inherited the Two Lands), so that you may unite with the horizon; the horizon has said that you rest upon it, which pleases me.’”
Footnotes: Nimaatre is Amenemhat III’s throne name, while Itjijautawy is his ‘Nebty’ name (Nebty = Two Ladies, direct translation ‘Nekhbet and Wadjet’, euphemism of Egypt - Nekhbet is the patron vulture goddess of Upper Egypt while Wadjet is the patron cobra goddess of Lower Egypt). Amenemhat is his personal name.
