Heqanakht Letter I
Description
Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Senwosret I, ca. 1961–1917 B.C. Papyrus, ink. H. 28.4 cm (11 3/16 in.), W. 27.1 cm (10 11/16 in.). From: Tomb complex of Ipy (TT 315, MMA 516), Tomb of Meseh (MMA 516B), Deir el-Bahri, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, 1921–22. Credit: Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1922.
The same text in other collections
Linked by shared inventory number
(ORAEC-id oraec163).
Each record below describes this same artifact or text from a different angle.
- 1. Brief des Heqa-nacht / pMMA Hekanakhte I ORAEC textDeir el-Bahari
- MMA 22.3.516 PNM textDeir el-Bahri
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 fragmentary Middle Kingdom papyrus letter written in dense black ink with rows of hieroglyphic text, showing multiple joinable pieces of the document.
The image shows several torn papyrus fragments laid together, with uneven edges and visible fiber/brown papyrus backing. Across the fragments, hieroglyphs are written in dark ink in tightly spaced horizontal lines. The script is consistent with Egyptian hieroglyphic cursive/block hybrids typical of administrative or personal documents. Some columns/lines are interrupted by losses where fragments are missing; the central area has gaps and a ragged break. No clearly legible royal cartouches or full personal names are readable at this resolution, though the overall layout is that of a letter. There is no visible Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text. No deities are confidently identifiable from the unclear small signs. The catalogue title refers to “Heqanakht Letter I,” but the image resolution does not allow confirmation of Heqanakht’s name/cartouche.
Cross-references (6)
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.