Central Panel from a Shrine for a Divine Image
Description
Object Label: The central panel here is inscribed for the Thirtieth Dynasty king Nectanebo II (reigned circa 360–342 B.C.). It comes from a shrine that presumably held a cult statue of the squatting goddess it depicts. Showing a figure in heavy, enveloping robes like this was a standard way of representing deities and symbolizing protection and the potential for life and regeneration. The resemblance to a wrapped mummy has led some Egyptologists to wonder: Is a mummy a body stylized into a divine image? The side panels are probably from a different and earlier shrine. Caption: Central Panel from a Shrine for a Divine Image, 362–343 B.C.E.. Wood, glass, 18 1/2 x 13 3/8 x 1 3/8 in. (47 x 34 x 3.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.258E. (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.
A polychromed wooden central panel depicts two kneeling figures/guardians flanking a central rounded column or emblem, set within stacked architectural framing. The top border contains painted/etched hieroglyphic text bands.
The object is a vertically oriented, weathered and fragmentary painted panel with a thick decorative frame. At the top there are horizontal bands of hieroglyph-like signs in dark ink/paint on a lighter ground, separated by ornamental lines. Below the top inscription band, two symmetrical scenes occupy the left and right halves: each side shows a kneeling posture and a large fan- or wing-like diagonal element with banded detailing, facing inward toward the center. A central rounded column-like form rises between the two sides, with smaller vertical motifs beneath it. The midsection includes multiple rectangular panels resembling stylized architectural openings or shrine/cabinet niches filled with blocks of color (notably blues, yellows, reds, and greens) suggesting painted wall or door partitions. The lower portion is damaged with a chipped bottom edge. No clearly legible modern museum label text is visible in the image.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.258E tier-2
- BKM-Object 3998 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.