Obelisk with Inscriptions on all Four Sides
Description
Object Label: Egyptian obelisks were erected in front of temples and tombs and were usually dedicated to Re-Horakhty or another manifestation of the sun god. The pyramid-like top was both a solar symbol and a representation of the primeval hill on which the creator-god first stood; the obelisk as a whole thus formed a point of contact between earth and heaven. This obelisk is dedicated to the sacred bull of the town of Horbeit, who embodied the destructive power of Horus against his enemies and those of his father, Osiris. Caption: Obelisk with Inscriptions on all Four Sides, ca. 360–342 B.C.E.. Granite, 25 x 7 5/16 x 7 5/16 in. (63.5 x 18.5 x 18.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.614. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
Stone obelisk-like monument shown in a museum setting, covered with incised bands of hieroglyphic text on the visible face.
The photograph shows a tall, tapering stone object photographed from one side. The surface is dark reddish-brown with mottling and patches consistent with weathering; incised or relief-like hieroglyphic signs are visible in horizontal registers. A thick band of signs runs across the upper portion, followed by additional text separated into lower lines/rows. No clear cartouche or royal name is legible at this resolution. No obvious deity figures (e.g., seated gods, human/animal forms associated with specific deities) are clearly identifiable—only abstract hieroglyphic groupings are visible. The image provides no view of a second/third/fourth face, so inscriptions on all four sides cannot be confirmed from this single view.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 36.614 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3398 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.