Shabaka Stone

E29861

The Shabaka Stone is an ancient Egyptian basalt slab inscribed with a theological and cosmological text from the 25th Dynasty that preserves a Memphite creation myth and early philosophical ideas about the god Ptah.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient Egyptian artifact
basalt slab
inscribed stone
religious text carrier
associatedCity Memphis
associatedConcept Memphite theology
creation through speech
intellectual creation by the heart
associatedDeity Ptah
associatedDynasty 25th Dynasty
Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt
associatedKing Shabaka
associatedRuler Shabaka
associatedTemple Temple of Ptah at Memphis
collection British Museum collection
contains Memphite creation myth
cosmologicalTheme ordering of the cosmos
origin of the gods
countryOfOrigin Ancient Egypt
culture Ancient Egyptian
currentLocation British Museum
damageType surface abrasion
date circa 8th century BCE
describes creative role of Ptah
primacy of heart and tongue in creation
genre religious cosmology
royal theological inscription
historicalPeriod Third Intermediate Period of Egypt
inscriptionPurpose to preserve an older worm-eaten papyrus text
inscriptionType cosmological text
theological text
language Ancient Egyptian
material basalt
medium stone inscription
museumCity London
namedAfter Pharaoh Shabaka
narrativeFocus Ptah as creator of gods and world
philosophicalSignificance early Egyptian philosophical ideas about creation
early theological reflection on the nature of Ptah
preservationStatus partially damaged
religiousFunction codification of Ptah’s creative role
religiousRole statement of Memphite theology
religiousTradition Ancient Egyptian religion
scholarlyUse evidence for early Egyptian philosophy
source for Memphite theology
scriptDirection right-to-left
theologicalTheme creation by divine word and thought
writingSystem Egyptian hieroglyphs

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Memphis (ancient city)
associatedWithText

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