A slab stela is a horizontally oriented

stela A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

from

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

. Some of the earliest tablets from mid- to late-

3rd millennium BC File:3rd millennium BC montage.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: Pyramid of Djoser; Khufu; Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; Cuneiform, a contract for the sale of a field and a house; Enheduana, a high pr ...

were painted slab stelas. A small number of Ancient Egyptian dignitaries or their wives had a slab stela. Some

funerary stela A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

s were in the form of slab steles, as opposed to being of the more common vertical type. From the middle 3rd millennium BC, some famous horizontal

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

s were made. The noted architect Hemon (Hemiunu) had one. It is housed in the Pelizaeus Museum of Germany. The horizontal

was used in other cultures in ancient times, for example in the

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

n cultures. File:Slab stela of Iunu.jpg,

Iunu Heliopolis (Jwnw, Iunu; , 'the Pillars'; , ; ) was a major city of ancient Egypt. It was the capital of the 13th Nome, 13th or Heliopolite Nome of Lower Egypt and a major religious centre. Its site is within the boundaries of Ain Shams and El M ...

's slab stela File:Stele of Rahotep.jpg,

Rahotep Sekhemre Wahkhau Rahotep was an Egyptian pharaoh who reigned during the Second Intermediate Period, when Egypt was ruled by multiple kings. The Egyptologists Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker believe that Rahotep was the first king of the 17th Dyn ...

's slab stela

See also