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

Ointment Jar

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

Description

New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, ca. 1479–1458 B.C. Travertine (Egyptian alabaster), ointment. H 14.3 × Diam 8.4 cm (5 5/8 × 3 5/16 in.). From: Temple of Hatshepsut, forecourt, Foundation Deposit 3 (C), Deir el-Bahri, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, 1923–24. Subject: Hieroglyphs. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1925.

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 Egyptian canopic-style jar with a flared body and rounded lid is shown in profile, decorated with incised hieroglyphic text around the front.

The object appears to be an ointment jar (small vessel) carved from a light-colored stone. It has a rounded, flat-topped lid and a tapering, flared body with a narrow base. On the front face of the jar there is an incised rectangular panel filled with hieroglyphs; within the panel are multiple stacked signs and what looks like a figure-like arrangement near the center/bottom (details are not fully legible at this resolution). No clear cartouche (royal name in a cartouche-shaped oval) is confidently readable. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible. No painted decoration is evident; the markings are carved/inscribed into the stone surface.

decorative New Kingdom (ground-truth from catalogue; specific reign unclear from image) good
Materials travertine (egyptian alabaster) (light beige stone body and lid)ointment (not directly visible, inferred from catalogue; no contents discernible)
Signs incised hieroglyphic signs in a rectangular panel (exact signs unclear) ×10
Visible text "Hieroglyphic inscription in a front rectangular panel; individual signs are not reliably legible from the image provided."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Hieroglyphic inscription in a front rectangular panel; individual signs are not reliably legible from the image provided.

Connections

Found at Deir el-Bahri
Royals Hatshepsut

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116247816 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 25.3.46a, b tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 544464 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
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.