Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art · statue

Erotic Musicians

Source of record: Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Object Label: Although it is one of many similar compositions, this statuette has particular interest for the inscribed rectangular item, possibly a papyrus, on top of the man’s phallus. The nonhieroglyphic writing is enigmatic, perhaps representing musical notation. Caption: Erotic Musicians, 305–30 B.C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 5 13/16 x 8 1/4 in. (14.8 x 21 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund , 58.34. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06

Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A small sculpture depicting two figures, possibly reading or engaging in an act of communication.

The artifact is a sculpture showing two seated figures. One figure holds an object that resembles a tablet or scroll, while the other figure sits across, potentially observing or communicating. The style appears simplistic, with minimal detailing on the figures. It is carved from a single piece of material resembling limestone.

daily life Middle Kingdom fragmentary
Materials limestone

Connections

Found at Egypt
Materials Limestone

Cross-references (2)

  • BKM-Accession 58.34 tier-2
  • BKM-Object 3649 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.