Stamp Seal in the Shape of a Boy
Description
Seal, boy. Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12–13, ca. 1981–1640 B.C. Boxwood. H. 5.7 cm (2 1/4 in.); W. 3.5 cm (1 3/8 in.); D. 3.8 cm (1 1/2 in.). From: Egypt. Subject: Boys. Credit: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915.
The same text in other collections
Linked by shared inventory number
(MET-Object 544304).
Each record below describes this same artifact or text from a different angle.
- MMA 30.8.89 PNM textAsasif
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 small, carved stamp-seal shaped like a seated young boy, shown in profile with hands clasped and a partially wrapped garment around the shoulders/chest.
The image shows a dark, polished wooden (brown) figure modeled in the round: a bald, childlike head with rounded cheeks and a prominent nose, seated on a rectangular base. The boy’s body is turned slightly to the right; the right arm is bent up toward the chest and the hands appear clasped or held together near the mouth. A small amount of incised/raised detailing suggests facial features (eyes, mouth) and a simplified garment or cloth drape around the upper torso. The object functions visually as a miniature seal, with the form presenting a compact standing/seated silhouette suitable for stamping. No clear hieroglyphic, Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible on the visible surfaces in this image. There are no identifiable royal cartouches or divine iconography that can be confidently read at this resolution.
Cross-references (5)
- Wikidata-Q Q116248050 tier-1
- Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- Inventory-Number 30.8.89 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- MET-Object 544304 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- PNM-Object pnm:83892849 tier-2 (inventory-match)
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.