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

Relief with the head of a female personification of an estate

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

Description

Relief, female personification of an estate. Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Khufu, ca. 2551–2528 B.C. Limestone. H. 30 cm (11 13/16 in.); W. 22 cm (8 11/16 in.). From: Pyramid of Amenemhat I, west side of core, Lisht North, Memphite Region, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, 1920–22. Subject: Birds, Women. Credit: Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1922.

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.

Weathered limestone relief fragment showing a framed bird-like figure (likely a hieroglyph/feathered symbol) and surrounding partial hieroglyphic signs on the left and above.

The image depicts a thick, roughly worked limestone block/relief fragment with chipped edges and surface wear. On the right-center is a rectangular bordered panel containing a bird-like figure with long legs and a curved neck/head, rendered in low relief; above and around it are additional carved elements that appear to be hieroglyphic signs. On the left side are partial vertical and curved line signs, including what resembles a cartouche-like or sign-circle motif, but the full form is incomplete due to damage. Along the lower portion there is a broad area of crosshatched/striated carving consistent with either a background field or a garment/feather pattern; small fragments of additional signs remain near the bottom edge. No clear Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is visible. No full royal cartouche is preserved.

religious Old Kingdom (as catalogued; image does not provide enough to independently date) fragmentary
Deities unknown (bird-like iconography not confidently attributable)
Materials limestone
Signs bird/feathered symbol within a framed panel (exact hieroglyph uncertain due to damage) partial hieroglyphic signs on left including a circular/sign-like element ×2 crosshatched/striated ground or garment-like pattern
Visible text "Partial hieroglyphic signs only; no complete readable line or cartouche preserved."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Partial hieroglyphic signs only; no complete readable line or cartouche preserved.

Connections

Found at Lisht
Materials Limestone

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116252354 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 22.1.7 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 543891 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.