Handle of Model Ax Inscribed for Amunhotep III
Description
Object Label: Foundation Deposits In addition to commissioning new buildings, Egyptian kings occasionally claimed existing structures such as temples or palaces as their own. The most common way for a king to do this was to substitute his own name for that of the original builder in the inscriptions. When a king commissioned a new structure, he buried objects in the four corners of the foundation to be certain that the gods would remember the true builder and that later kings could not find and reinscribe them. These so-called foundation deposits usually included plaques with the king’s name, as well as models of objects used to erect the building, such as grinders, hoes, and rockers needed to move large stones. Caption: Handle of Model Ax Inscribed for Amunhotep III, ca. 1390–1352 B.C.E.. Lapis lazuli, 1 15/16 x 1 3/8 in. (4.9 x 3.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.280E. (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 small, dark blue/black handle-like object with a recessed, light-colored incised hieroglyphic or iconographic register on its face.
The image shows a single small artifact photographed in close-up against a museum display background. One end is shaped like a short, flared spade/ankh-like or axe-handle end with a flattened face. On the visible face, a vertical panel of incised light pigment/etching includes a central figure-like motif resembling an Egyptian shield/royal emblem or hieroglyphic arrangement, surrounded by additional stacked signs. The incised/painted markings appear gold-colored or pale, contrasting with the darker body of the object. The remainder of the object is rounded and tapering, consistent with a handle or haft. No separate cartouche or clearly legible royal name is confidently readable at this resolution. No photographic text in Greek/Coptic/Arabic is visible.
Inscriptions (1)
Visible text (machine reading)
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.280E tier-2
- BKM-Object 4008 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.