Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · architecture

Fragment of a Menat Counterpoise

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Menat fragment. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, ca. 1479–1458 B.C. Faience, paint. H. 3 cm (1 3/16 in.); W. 4 cm (1 9/16 in.). From: Temple of Nebhepetre Montuhotep II, Deir el-Bahri, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: Egypt Exploration Fund excavations. Credit: Gift of Egypt Exploration Fund, 1907.

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.

Blue-painted faience fragment with incised/painted hieroglyph-like motifs on a broken rectangular edge.

The image shows a small, irregularly broken rectangular fragment with a turquoise/blue surface and lighter/cream fabric-like backing along the breaks. The main decoration consists of dark blue/black painted markings forming at least one block of hieroglyphic signs and a curved, eye-like or rosette-like element near the top. Lower areas include horizontal bands and vertical strokes consistent with painted hieroglyphs or protective/ritual counterpoise decoration. No cartouche borders or clear royal name is identifiable from the visible portion. No Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is present.

unclear New Kingdom (per catalogue); specific sign style not clear enough for tighter dating fragmentary
Materials faiencepaint
Signs Unidentified hieroglyphic sign(s) (painted block) ×5
Visible text "Painted hieroglyphic block (illegible in detail from the fragment)."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Painted hieroglyphic block (illegible in detail from the fragment).

Connections

Found at Deir el-Bahri
Materials FaiencePaint

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116273692 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 07.230.29 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 549477 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • 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.