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

"Opening of the Mouth" vessel of Perneb

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

Description

Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, reign of Isesi–Unis, ca. 2381–2323 B.C. Dark stone. H: 3.5 cm (1 3/8 in.); diam: 5.2 cm (2 1/16 in.). From: Tomb of Perneb, Saqqara, Memphite Region, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, 1913–14. Credit: Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1914.

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, dark stone, conical basin/vessel viewed from the front, with no clearly visible inscriptions or figurative decoration.

The image shows a single stone object photographed against a light background. The vessel has a broad circular rim and narrows to a slightly rounded base, forming a truncated cone or shallow cup shape. The surface appears dark gray to black with lighter weathering/striations and chips consistent with age or wear; no painted decoration is visible. There are no clearly carved hieroglyphs, cartouches, deity figures, or tool marks associated with the “Opening of the Mouth” ritual visible in this view. The object is too plain and lacks identifiable text to confirm specific ownership (“Perneb”) from the image alone. The materials visible are consistent with dark stone, matching the catalogue’s description.

decorative Old Kingdom (catalogue ground truth; image alone inconclusive) good
Materials dark stone

Connections

Found at Saqqara
Materials Dark Stone

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116277326 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 14.7.94 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 547094 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.