Year 400 Stela
Ancient Egyptian stela commemorating a 400-year anniversary of Seth.
The Year 400 Stela, also known as the Stela of Year 400, is an ancient Egyptian monument from the 13th century BCE. Its precise meaning is uncertain, but it is widely thought to commemorate the 400th anniversary of an event connected with the deity Seth.
Quick Facts
- Material
- granite
- Writing
- Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
- Created
- 13th century BCE
- Discovered place
- Tanis
- Discovered by
- Auguste Mariette (1863), Pierre Montet (1933)
- Location
- Cairo Museum
Facts from the source article.
History and description
Auguste Mariette unearthed the stela in 1863 while excavating the great temple at Tanis; he copied it and reburied it. Pierre Montet rediscovered it in 1933 and moved it to the Cairo Museum. The incomplete stela dates to the reign of Ramesses II of the 19th Dynasty. In the lunette, Ramesses II offers wine jars to Seth, whose name was later erased. Behind the pharaoh stands the official Seti, the stela's author. The lower register inscription states that Seti, son of Paramessu and Tia, came to worship Seth and commemorate the event by issuing the granite stela.
Interpretation
From its discovery, the Year 400 of Nubti was understood not as a regnal year but as an anniversary. Because of the 400-year interval and references to Seth, Nubti was initially thought to be an otherwise unattested Hyksos ruler. The 400th anniversary was proposed to mark an event such as the construction of a Seth temple or the start of a new era. The find also supported the now-disproven hypothesis that Tanis was the Hyksos capital Avaris and that the stela commemorated the Hyksos arrival. Modern scholarship identifies the official Seti as Ramesses' father Seti I early in his career, and Nubti as Seth himself given fictitious royal titles. Going back 400 years from the stela's period (likely when Seti served under king Horemheb) dates the celebrated event to around 1730–1720 BCE.
More in Set
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced