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

Frieze from the tomb of Mereri

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

Description

Relief, tomb of Mereri. First Intermediate Period, Dynasty 9, ca. 2100–2030 B.C. Limestone. H. 9.7 × W. 19.8 × D. 8.6 cm (3 13/16 × 7 13/16 × 3 3/8 in.). From: Tomb of Mereri, Behind Temple of Hathor, Dendera, Northern Upper Egypt, Egypt. Excavation: Egypt Exploration Fund excavations, 1898. Credit: Gift of Egypt Exploration Fund, 1898.

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 fragmentary limestone architectural frieze showing carved geometric elements and traces of painted red pigment near an inset panel.

The image shows a thick rectangular stone fragment with uneven break edges. The upper right area contains a recessed, panel-like section with a border that appears carved in relief; inside, there is a curved/arched carved motif and layered lines that may have once formed figures or decorative bands but are now heavily worn. Across the fragment there are numerous tool marks and surface abrasions consistent with age and weathering. A small patch of red pigment (and/or painted line) is visible in the mid-right interior area. No legible hieroglyphs, cartouches, or names can be confidently read from the visible carving at this resolution.

decorative First Intermediate Period (per catalogue; visible carving too fragmentary to confirm) fragmentary
Materials limestone

Connections

Found at Dendera
Materials Limestone
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.