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

Model ax

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

Description

Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, ca. 1981–1802 B.C. Copper, wood, animal hide. l. 3.5 cm (1 3/8 in). From: Tomb of Ankhef (Tomb 9), Asyut (Lykopolis), Middle Egypt, Egypt. Excavation: Khashaba excavations. Credit: Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1917.

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.

The image shows a wooden shaft with a dark metal/metal-alloy head shaped like a crescent blade, resembling a small axe or ax model.

The object is photographed against a neutral background. A long, light-brown wooden handle extends horizontally across the frame. Near one end, the handle is fitted into a dark, rounded socket or hafting area. Attached to the socket is a curved, semicircular blade/edge element, giving the impression of an axe head. The surface of the dark component appears oxidized/patinated. No clear hieroglyphs, cartouches, or inscriptions are visible. No identifiable depictions of deities or royal figures appear on the object in this view. The materials visible include wood (handle) and a dark metal component (axe head/socket); animal hide is not clearly identifiable from the image.

decorative Middle Kingdom (per catalogue; not directly dateable from the image alone) good
Materials woodmetal (copper or copper alloy unclear from image)possible leather/hide not clearly visible

Connections

Materials Wood

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116281795 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 17.9.13 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 546204 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.