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

Inscribed side of back pillar from head of Akhenaten in blue crown

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

Description

New Kingdom, Amarna Period, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten, ca. 1353–1336 B.C. Indurated limestone. H. 6.7 × W. 7.5 × D. 7.5 cm (2 5/8 × 2 15/16 × 2 15/16 in.). From: Great Temple of the Aten, pit outside southern wall, Amarna (Akhetaten), Middle Egypt, Egypt. Excavation: Petrie/Carter excavations, 1891–92. Credit: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1957.

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 fragment of a stone pillar-like element with a carved curved hieroglyphic form and an undecorated/eroded surface.

The object appears to be a small, thick fragment of an ancient Egyptian architectural element (pillar/back-pillar). One main face preserves portions of shallow relief carving: a prominent rounded sign element on the left and smaller adjacent carved curves/angles on the right, but most surrounding inscription details are missing due to breakage and erosion. No painted color (e.g., blue crown) is clearly visible in the photo; the surfaces are uniformly light-beige/gray, consistent with unpainted stone or areas where pigment has flaked away. There is no clearly legible cartouche or full royal name preserved in the visible area, and no secure deity iconography is identifiable from the fragmentary marks alone. The back/side edges show rough breakage typical of inscribed architectural fragments.

unclear New Kingdom, Amarna Period (as catalogued); exact date cannot be verified from visible fragment fragmentary
Materials stone/limestone (color suggests indurated limestone; pigment not clearly visible)
Signs Unidentified rounded hieroglyphic sign element (possibly part of an inscription)
Visible text "Inscription is present but illegible at this resolution; only partial rounded/curved hieroglyphic elements are visible."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Inscription is present but illegible at this resolution; only partial rounded/curved hieroglyphic elements are visible.

Connections

Found at Amarna (Akhetaten)
Royals Akhenaten

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116273514 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 57.180.86 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 549633 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.