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

Relief fragment 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 fragment, tomb of Mereri. First Intermediate Period, Dynasty 9, ca. 2100–2030 B.C. Limestone. H. 14.3 × W. 47 × D. 3.7 cm (5 5/8 × 18 1/2 × 1 7/16 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.

Fragmentary Egyptian relief showing carved horizontal elements and figures in profile on a pale limestone surface.

The image presents a broken limestone relief fragment, with the main preserved portion containing low-relief carving. On the left are stacked horizontal bands and a partially preserved human figure in profile (details unclear due to breakage). The central area includes a vertical column of hieroglyph-like strokes and a boxed shape, while the right side preserves a larger standing or striding figure whose head and torso are clearer than the rest. The hieroglyphic signs are heavily damaged and not fully legible; no complete cartouche or royal titulary is visible. No modern text overlays (Greek/Coptic/Arabic) are present.

religious First Intermediate Period (as catalogued); exact date unclear from the image alone. fragmentary
Materials limestone (pale, light-colored stone)
Signs unidentified vertical hieroglyphic column (partially preserved)

Connections

Found at Dendera
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.