The Sehel Island Granite Stela, also known as the Sehel Island Inscriptions or the Famine Stela, stands as a crucial historical inscription from ancient Egypt.
The stela was created to commemorate and provide information about the construction of a dam and a canal during the period of famine. These public works projects were intended to mitigate the effects of a severe drought and famine. The public works projects were initiated to address the impacts of a seven-year famine that occurred during Djoser’s reign. They aimed to address the crisis through the construction of a dam and canal.
The inscription on the stela describes the events of the seven years of famine that occurred during Djoser’s reign. It details the king’s response to the famine, including his efforts to address the crisis through the construction of a dam and a canal. The stela also records Djoser’s piety and his consultations with the god Khnum, the deity associated with the Nile.
The Sehel Island Granite Stela holds immense significance because it provides historical evidence of a specific period of famine and the measures taken by the ancient Egyptian state to address the crisis. It also sheds light on the religious beliefs and practices of ancient Egyptians during this time.
This inscription is a monumental piece of writing in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, carved into a 2.5 meters high and 3 meters wide black granite slab located on Sehel Island, Egypt.
The stela narrates the story of a seven-year period of drought and famine during the reign of Pharaoh Djoser (circa 2686 BC–circa 2613 BC).
It is thought that the stela was inscribed during the Ptolemaic Kingdom, specifically during the reign of Ptolemy V (205 – 180 BC), around 2200 years ago.
The top part of the stela depicts three Egyptian deities and in front of them Djoser carrying offerings.
The text describes how the king is upset and worried as the land has been in the grip of a drought and famine for seven years and how the Egyptians are suffering as a result of the drought and that they are desperate as they are disrespecting and breaking the laws of the land.
At the time of the first translation of the stela, it was thought that the story of a seven-year famine was connected to the biblical story in Genesis 41 (Joseph).
More recent investigations have shown that a seven-year famine was a common theme in nearly all cultures of the Near East: a Mesopotamian legend also speaks about a seven-year famine, and in the well-known Gilgamesh Epic, the god Anu gives a prophecy about a famine for seven years.
Another Egyptian tale talks about a long-lasting drought appearing in the so-called “Book of the Temple.”