A stela is a flat slab or pillar of stone designed for a commemorative purpose and usually marked with text or images. This stela was probably made for a necropolis, where it would have been placed in the tomb of the deceased. Most stelae from this period were created to ensure that the tomb owner would receive the offerings necessary to survive in the afterlife, which the ancient Egyptians conceived as an actual physical existence requiring sustenance. The deceased's ka, the aspect of a person that could be represented in artistic form, dwelt within the mummy or the tomb statue, and needed life-preserving goods such as food and drink, which the living provided through offerings. It was believed that representations of the deceased helped assure survival of the self.
