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

Belt with Aten cartouche from Akhenaten prostrate (?)

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. 1352–1336 B.C. Indurated limestone. H. 12.5 × W. 8 × D. 1.7 cm (4 15/16 × 3 1/8 × 11/16 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.

Fragmentary carved stone plaque with incised decoration including a partial cartouche-like shape and vertical contour lines; no complete inscription is visible.

The image shows a rough, vertically oriented fragment of light-colored, indurated limestone/plaster-like stone. The surface has weathering and chips along the edges. On the right side there is a partially preserved oval/arch-like carved element with adjacent incised strokes, resembling the lower portion of a cartouche or enclosing sign, but the rest of the inscription is missing. The main background features multiple incised vertical grooves/striations running down the face, suggesting either decorative ridges of a belt or a backing panel with carved lines. No full deity or royal name can be confidently reconstructed because the key central portion of the inscription is not present. There are no visible Greek, Coptic, or Arabic texts, and no clear, complete hieroglyph sequence is legible from this fragment.

unclear New Kingdom, Amarna Period (per catalogue); specific identification of Aten cartouche cannot be confirmed from the visible fragment fragmentary
Deities unknown (Aten not clearly legible)
Royals unknown (Akhenaten cartouche text not fully visible)
Materials indurated limestone (light, chalky stone)
Signs Partial cartouche/enclosing oval with internal strokes (incomplete)

Connections

Found at Amarna (Akhetaten)
Deities Aten
Royals Akhenaten

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116273507 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 57.180.34 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 549643 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.