Background:

 

Scribes were very important individuals in ancient Egypt. During the Old kingdom they were more important than soldiers but soldiers became more important in the New Kingdom. Scribes were entrusted with all the secrets of the country thus they had to be honest people. They were usually chosen from the relatives of the king. Most of the tomb owners were represented in a scribal position which shows the importance of this post.

Metri was an official who occupied a high rank in ancient Egypt. He was an administrator of a nome, the priest of goddess mAat and the overseer of scribes. His statue was found in his tomb at Saqqara by Egyptian Antiquities in 1925 along with another more 10 statues. Five of them are displayed in the Egyptian museum while the other five are displayed in the metropolitan museum and the last one is in Stockholm.

 

The statue:

 

This statue dates back to the Old Kingdom, the end of the 5th dynasty. It is made out of Acacia wood and covered with painted plaster. He is represented in a vivid live feature. His eyes are looking forward as if looking to some one. The eyes are in laid as in the ancient Egyptian traditional way. The Wight part of the eye is slightly reddish as if they are exhausted which gives the statue realism. He has a delicate nose and a moustache over his upper lip. The mouth is represented as if he is going to start talking or reading. He is represented with his real hair. He is wearing a collar around his neck. The colors of the collar indicate fertility. His legs are crossed with a roll of papyrus on his lap but it is damaged. His hand is in the writing position although damaged. And he is slightly bent forwards as if writing. The details of the body were not very well represented because the statue is made out of acacia wood. The statue is made out one block of wood which reflects the skill of the artist. He is wearing a kilt with a knot or a dagger emerging from it. His names and titles are inscribed on the pedestal under the statue but unfortunately they are not obvious.   

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�s��q. It was believed that originally the slab had a round semi circle top crowned with the winged solar disk with two cobras each wearing a crown of Upper or Lower Egypt and each carrying the shen ring as a sign of eternity and the ceremonial fan below the winged solar disk. Probably there have been figures of the king with several deities making some offerings. This belief came from the existence of the Damanhour stela which contains the same Hieroglyphic inscriptions. The slab is divided into three registers:

 

<!--The first register is inscribed with the hieroglyphic letters only 14 lines remain undamaged thus a complete translation could not be managed

<!--The second register is inscribed with Demotic consisting of 32 lines 14 of which are damaged

<!--The third register is inscribed with the classical Greek language. It contains 54 lines the last 26 lines are not complete due to the damage.

 

Translation of the text:

 

Europeans are acquainted with the classical Greek language so they were able to translate the Greek part. In September 1822 Jean Francois Champilion managed to translate the other two texts by comparing them to the Greek text and to the Damanhour stela and to some inscription found on the walls of the temple of Isis at Philae. By comparing the letters that was in the cartouche with the Greek text and with the cartouche of Cleopatra on an obelisk Champilion was able to verify the letters and the name that was in the cartouche belonged to Ptolemy V.

 

The context of the stone:

 

It was a decree made by the priests of Re commemorating the first anniversary of the coronation of Ptolemy V and thanking him for reducing their taxes and for the offering he made for the gods and for his respect to the ancient Egyptian religion. Inscriptions at this time were made in several languages because the ruling house was Macedonian and Greek.