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

Wig of Nefertiti, inscribed

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

Description

Nefertiti head/wig. New Kingdom, Amarna Period, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten, ca. 1352–1336 B.C. Indurated limestone. H. 21 × W. 21 × D. 10 cm (8 1/4 × 8 1/4 × 3 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: Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1921.

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.

Photograph of a broken Egyptian inscribed limestone object shaped like a wig/helmet front, with incised hieroglyphs in the central register.

The artifact is a light-colored, weathered piece of indurated limestone, forming a triangular/rounded wig-like silhouette. A recessed central panel contains incised hieroglyphic signs arranged vertically, including a cartouche-like enclosure and vertical strokes; the surrounding surfaces show heavy chipping and losses. A small handwritten/printed accession number appears on the lower edge, reading “21.9.442” (ink or pencil-like marking). No visible modern mounting or adhesive is apparent. No Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is visible. The depicted hieroglyphs do not provide enough clarity in this image to reliably transcribe the full name or inscription excerpt.

decorative New Kingdom, Amarna Period (as catalogued; exact reading uncertain from image alone) fragmentary
Royals unknown (inscription too unclear to confirm Nefertiti from this image)
Materials indurated limestone (light cream/white)
Signs incised hieroglyphic signs (vertical arrangement; includes an enclosed/bordered element suggestive of a cartouche) ×8

Connections

Found at Amarna (Akhetaten)
Royals Nefertiti

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116273131 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 21.9.442 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 549781 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.