The Cast of a Relief of Nubkheperre Intef VI from Coptos

This past week, the course on the History of Ancient Egypt through the Egypt Centre Collection moved on to the Second Intermediate Period. For the blog post this week, I would like to present the cast of a relief (fig. 1) depicting Nubkheperre Intef VI, the original of which is now on display in the Petrie Museum in London (UC14780). Nubkheperre Intef was a Theban king during the Seventeenth Dynasty, when Egypt was largely ruled by the Hyksos. Intef is one of the better-known kings of the Seventeenth Dynasty. His tomb was originally entered by tomb robbers in 1827 when some of its treasures made it into the hands of Western collectors; his unique rishi style coffin was purchased by the British Museum from the Henry Salt collection (BM EA 6652). His tomb was later found by early Egyptologists around 1881 but knowledge of its location was lost again until it was rediscovered in 2001 by Daniel Polz and his team. The tomb, located at Dra' Abu el-Naga', was originally covered with a small pyramid (approximately 11 m at the base, rising to a height of approximately 13 m).

Fig. 1: Front face of EC642

Nubkheperre Intef is known from several monuments, including blocks from a chapel at Coptos. These were excavated by Flinders Petrie in 1894. The blocks, in both raised and sunk relief, can now be found in the Petrie Museum, Manchester, Berlin, Ashmolean, and Philadelphia. EC642 in the Egypt Centre is a cast of UC14780, which is a small block carved in high-quality raised relief. It depicts the upper half of the god Min facing to the right, with traces of the head of Intef directly behind him. This block, along with the others dating to the reign of Intef, were found face down and reused as a pavement of a later addition to the temple at Coptos. The cast in Swansea was produced soon after the relief was discovered, as is evident by the note attached to the reverse of the object (fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Back of EC642

The note reads: “The original of this slab was found at Koptos (the modern Keft of Koft) the present place on the site to the Red Sea by the old trade route, by Professor Petrie in the spring of 1894. The original slab was in a very perfect state as far as the characters go and was found bedded face down forming one of the foundation courses of a more recent temple. The cartouche is that of Antef V of the eleventh dynasty. Nov. 27. 1894. Given to me by James Butler Esqr Blyth House, Humber Road, Blackheath a.c(?)”. James William Butler was elected to the Royal Society of Arts in 1904. Butler seems to have been an inventor, with a Google search bringing to light several patents. For example, in 1886 he patented (patent 352,504) apparatus for moulding perforated blocks for containing electric wires (fig. 3).

Fig.3: Butler's patent

What I have been unable to find is the connection between Butler and Petrie. It is also unclear who wrote the note on the back of the cast in the Egypt Centre. Additionally, how was the object obtained by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and when? Like so many objects in the collection, there are a lot of unanswered questions. EC642 is currently on display in the Fakes, Forgeries, and Replicas at the Egypt Centre.