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

Canopic jar head of Kay

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

Description

Canopic jar, Kay. Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, ca. 1981–1802 B.C. Linen covered with stucco. From: Tomb of Kay, Meir, Middle Egypt, Egypt. Excavation: Khashaba excavations, 1910–11. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1911.

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.

Front-facing canopic jar head with a painted face and stylized beard area, set against a turquoise/green background shape over a pale base.

The image shows an Egyptian canopic jar head (or head-shaped canopic element) viewed straight-on. A rounded head with human facial features is painted in yellow/tan tones: large almond-shaped eyes with dark pupils, arched eyebrows, a straight nose, and a small mouth. The lower chin/neck area transitions into a pale, off-white neck or base that widens slightly. Over the head is a broad turquoise/green painted area that could represent a painted linen/stucco surface and/or a wig/covering; there are small surface losses and wear visible on both the green and pale areas. No clearly readable hieroglyphic inscription or cartouche is visible on the face or base in the provided image. The object is photographed against a plain light background; no additional text in Greek/Coptic/Arabic is visible.

funerary Middle Kingdom (per catalogue ground truth); exact dating based on image is unclear. good
Materials painted stucco surfacesturquoise/green painted coatingpale/cream surface consistent with stucco/covered base

Connections

Found at Meir
Materials Painted Stucco Surfaces

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116281567 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 11.150.18c tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 546284 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.