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

Specimen of mortar from the Great Pyramid

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

Description

Mortar fragment, Giza Pyramid. Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Khufu, ca. 2551–2528 B.C. Mortar (shell, quartz, bricks). L. 11.6 cm (4 9/16 in.); W. 11 cm (4 5/16 in.); D. 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in.). From: Pyramid Complex of Khufu, Pyramid, between core blocks, north side, Giza, Memphite Region, Egypt. Credit: Anonymous Gift, 1924.

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.

Photograph of a rough, broken clump of brown-gray material consistent with compacted mortar or stone dust.

The image shows a small, irregular fragment with a mottled surface and granular texture, light brown to gray in color. No clear tool marks, incised decoration, or carved/painted iconography is visible. The fragment appears to contain mixed inclusions (small lighter specks/grains) but there are no legible hieroglyphs or cartouches. The overall appearance matches a quarrying/archaeological sample rather than an inscribed artifact.

unclear Old Kingdom (per catalogue) fragmentary
Materials mortar (granular/stone-like matrix)quartz-like light inclusions (uncertain)brick-like/mineral inclusions (uncertain)

Connections

Found at Giza
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.