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-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 granite stela with hieroglyphic inscriptions.
The artifact is a tall, rectangular granite stela featuring vertical columns of well-defined hieroglyphic inscriptions. Its weathered surface indicates significant age. The inscriptions are in relief and showcase traditional Egyptian symbols and figures.
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.