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

Key

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

Description

Ptolemaic Period, 306–30 B.C. Iron. L. 13.4 × W. 1.3 × Th. 1.2 cm (5 1/4 × 1/2 × 1/2 in.). From: Dra Abu el-Naga, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: Carnarvon/Carter excavations. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1912.

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 long, narrow metal object resembling a key or key-blank with a curved working end and a simple notch at one side.

The image shows a single elongated iron object photographed on a neutral background. One end terminates in a rounded hook/curve, while the opposite end is irregular but appears to form a basic stem with a small protrusion or cut. No teeth, bow, or complex perforations are clearly visible due to the object’s profile and resolution; the overall silhouette is consistent with a key-like artifact. There are no visible engraved hieroglyphs or any inscriptions on the surface, and no cartouches or identifiable royal iconography are present. No evidence of attached materials (e.g., wood/cord) or decorative program is visible. The object condition appears good with surface wear/patina, and no clear breakage is evident.

unclear Ptolemaic Period (per catalogue), but not confirmable from image alone good
Materials iron

Connections

Found at Dra Abu el-Naga
Materials Iron
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.