Shabaka Stone
The Shabaka Stone, sometimes Shabaqo, is a relic incised with an ancient Egyptian religious text, which dates from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. In later years, the stone was likely used as a millstone, which damaged the hieroglyphs. This damage is accompanied by other intentional defacements, leaving the hieroglyphic inscription in poor condition. Provenance Historical origins Originally erected as a lasting monument at the Great Temple of Ptah in Memphis in the late eighth century BCE, the stone was at some point removed (for unknown reasons) to Alexandria. From there, it was transported by a navy vessel from Alexandria to England. It was brought back as ballast along with a capital of an Egyptian column, fragments of a Greco-Roman black basalt capital, two fragments of quartzite lintel of Senwosret III, and a black granite kneeling statue of Ramesses II. In 1805, the stone was donated to the British Museum by George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758–1834), who was First Lord of the Admiralty and since 1794 the trustee of the museum. In 1901, the stone was deciphered, translated, and interpreted for the first time by the American Egyptologist, James Henry Breasted. The monument has remained at the museum to the