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

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 fragment, inscribed. New Kingdom, Amarna Period, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten, ca. 1353–1336 B.C. Indurated limestone. H. 4.5 × W. 10.5 × D. 5.5 cm (1 3/4 × 4 1/8 × 2 3/16 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.

A fragmentary, light-colored carved object with an incised/relief form on one side, photographed against a plain background.

The image shows a broken, shallowly arched stone fragment. The dominant surface is smooth and undecorated except for small chips and tool marks. On the left side there is a small area of relief/incised linear forms that could be part of a carved inscription or a sculpted feature, but the exact characters are not legible at this resolution. No clear wig-specific elements (e.g., patterned coiffure bands) or a readable royal name/cartouche are visible. There is no legible Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text. The surface color and apparent carving technique are consistent with a stone artifact fragment; however, the visible material characteristics do not let us confirm 'indurated limestone' beyond the cataloguing claim.

unclear New Kingdom, Amarna Period (based on catalogue ground truth; inscription/subject not legible in image) fragmentary
Materials stone (limestone-like)

Connections

Found at Amarna (Akhetaten)
Royals Nefertiti
Materials Stone

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116273137 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 21.9.513 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 549782 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.