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

Relief with cartouches of Aten

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

Description

Talatat, cartouches of Aten. New Kingdom, Amarna Period, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten, ca. 1353–1336 B.C. Limestone, paint (mostly modern). h. 19.7 cm (7 3/4 in); w. 27.3 cm (10 3/4 in). Probably originally from: Amarna (Akhetaten). Subject: Cartouches. Credit: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan P. Rosen, 1991.

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.

Stone relief fragment showing two/possibly three rectangular cartouche frames with internal hieroglyphic signs, bordered in blue-black pigment.

The image depicts a small limestone relief fragment against a dark background. Two cartouche-like ovals/rectangles are clearly visible side-by-side (with a possible third element at the far left that is partially broken). Each cartouche contains closely packed hieroglyphic signs in vertical arrangement. Around the recessed incisions there appears to be residual paint (notably a blue/black hue) that outlines the cartouche frames and some internal signs. No figures of people or deities are shown—only cartouche frames and hieroglyphic text. The fragment is weathered and broken on the left and top edges, with the right side also chipped but readable enough to see the cartouche frames and sign groups. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible. The specific royal name within the cartouches cannot be confidently read from this resolution; individual signs are present but the full inscriptions are unclear.

decorative New Kingdom, Amarna Period (based on catalogue context); inscriptions readable only as cartouche frames and partial signs. fragmentary
Deities Aten (unclear from image; not explicitly identifiable)
Royals unknown (cartouche text present but not legible with confidence)
Materials limestoneresidual paint (mostly modern/overpaint; blue-black pigment visible)
Signs cartouche frame (enclosed hieroglyphs) ×2
Visible text "Cartouche(s) with internal hieroglyphs; exact royal titulary text unclear/undecipherable from image."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Cartouche(s) with internal hieroglyphs; exact royal titulary text unclear/undecipherable from image.

Connections

Deities Aten
Materials Limestone

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116246073 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 1991.237.18 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 544937 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.