Tomb Relief of Itwesh
Description
Object Label: Itwesh, more officially called Semenkhu-Ptah, was an important royal official, according to the inscription on this relief fragment from his tomb. The image represents not the living Itwesh but one of his tomb statues. In Egyptian reliefs, living people are generally depicted with both shoulders in a frontal view, while images of statues show just one shoulder in profile. The full chin, receding (slightly retouched) hairline, and walking stick indicate that the statue of Itwesh shown in this relief portrayed him as a stout man in prosperous middle age. Caption: Tomb Relief of Itwesh, ca. 2475–2345 B.C.E.. Limestone, 17 x 5 1/2 x 30 in., 141.5 lb. (43.2 x 14 x 76.2 cm, 64.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.25E. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
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.
Limestone tomb-relief showing a large left-facing male head/upper figure with surrounding engraved hieroglyphic text and small religious/ritual motifs.
The image depicts a rectangular piece of limestone carved in low relief. On the left is a prominent sculpted profile/bust of a male (head and upper face visible) facing left. Across the top and upper field are rows of incised hieroglyphs and icon-like elements (rectangular and bird/feather-like forms). In the central zone are multiple vertical and horizontal hieroglyphic signs, including wedjat/eye-like motifs, and other small schematic figures typical of Egyptian offering/ritual inscriptions. On the right edge there are additional columns of hieroglyphs with small standing/carrying-figure-like strokes, though individual sign identification is partly unclear due to resolution and wear. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic script is visible. No clear royal cartouche is legible in the provided image. The inscription appears purely hieroglyphic.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.25E tier-2
- BKM-Object 116774 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- 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.