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

Libation Dish Depicting Ka-Arms Presenting an Ankh-Sign

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

Description

Dish, libation. Early Dynastic Period, Dynasty 1, ca. 3100–2900 B.C. Greywacke. w. 14.5 x h. (depth) 3.5 x l. 17.6 cm (5 11/16 x 1 3/8 x 6 15/16 in.). From: Egypt. Subject: Ankh. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1919.

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 greywacke libation dish with a central circular well and projecting elements, shown from an angled side view.

The object appears to be a carved stone dish with a shallow, rounded central basin. From the basin’s perimeter extend broad, flat projections forming a stylized frame, and additional raised elements near the rim that resemble arms/props associated with ka-figural motifs. The surface is worn/abraded but preserves the overall dish form: a circular depression surrounded by a thick border and two protruding rectangular/wing-like ends. No readable hieroglyphs, cartouches, or modern inscriptions are visible in the provided image. No deities are explicitly identifiable; the iconography is limited to the dish’s sculpted motifs. The visible material color and texture are consistent with the catalogue’s greywacke description.

decorative Early Dynastic Period (as catalogued) good
Materials greywacke (stone)
Signs ankh-sign

Connections

Materials Greywacke

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q29385725 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 19.2.16 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 543866 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.