LARGE EGYPTIAN GRANITE FUNERARY STELA OF THE LECTOR-PRIEST BAKY AND HIS WIFE RUIU. New Kingdom, XVIIIth Dynasty reign of Thutmose III, Ca. 1504-1450 BC . A very rare black granite round topped funerary stela of the ' third lector-priest, pure of hands in the temple of Montu ', 'Overseer of the priests of Montu' Baky and his wife "the mistress of the house" Ruiu. The stela is divided into two registers: in the lunette, on the right - Baky and Ruiu are seated in front of an offerings table with food, on the left of which is a standing man in a consecration gesture: he is her son the third lector-priest Samontu. The second register presents a similar scene, unfortunately, the surface of the stela is worn. On the right, Baky and Ruiu are seated in front of an offering table. On the other side, another couple's son Djehuty is depicted in a consecration gesture. The vertical text behind him, James another son: Menkheperre-seneb. This anthtoponym, basilophore formed with the prenome of the great pharaoh Thutmosis III, helps to date the stela with certain precision. In the lower portion of the stela in the right are still visible the beginning of the remains of a hieroglyphic text in three lines a with the hetep di nesut formula: ' A boon which king gives to Montu......priests.....(may) they give invocation offering of bread and beer oxen and fowl..." For similar see: The British Museum, Museum number EA561. Size: 660mm x 450mm; Weight: over 25kg Provenance: London collection, acquired on the UK art market; Ex. Mayfair collection, acquired from an Ancient Art gallery; Ex. German art market; Ex. Hamburg private estate collection Germany, acquired in Switzerland in the 1970s.This piece is accompanied by an authentication report from Simone Musso, consultant curator for Egyptian antiquities at the Stibbert Museum, Florence, Italy, member of the Nuri Archaeological Expedition. This item has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database and comes with a confirmation letter.