2. General map of Giza pyramidsand surroundingcemeteries.The Great Pyramid is at the right. Wepemnofret'stomb is designatedby an arrow. There are certain moments in the history of a people when the striving for expression achieves a balance of form in which opposing tensions are resolved. Such a crucial time was reached by the Egyptians during the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza in the twenty-seventh century B.c. The turning point between the archaic style of a fertile period of experiment and the mature development of the IVth Dynasty is perfectly represented by the slab-stela of Prince Wepemnofret ( Cover and Figure 1). The stela was discovered in 1905 by the Hearst Expedition of the University of California, directed by George A. Reisner. It is one of the chief treasures of the Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology at Berkeley. ' Since humidity was endangering the surface, the stone was brought to Boston in 1961 to be treated by William J. Young, Head of the Research Laboratory of the Museum of Fine Arts. The delicate work of con- solidation has been sucessfully completed, bringing out the extraordinary freshness of the colors, which makes one feel that the ancient painter has only recently laid down his brush. Since it has been possible to study the details of the workmanship under especially favorable circumstances, this seems a suitable occasion to underline the importance of this stela, which is the best preserved example of Old Kingdom painted low relief. Wepemnofret was the chief person of one of three branches of the older generation of the royal family. His was the largest tomb (G 1201) in the westernmost of the three early cemeteries which were laid out on a regular plan when Cheops began to build his pyramid (Figures 2, 3). Wepemnofret was a less important man than the king's cousin Hemiunu, who served Cheops as Vizier and Overseer of All the King's Works and who was the most prominent of 3