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

Box inlay with a geometric pattern

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

Description

Inlay, from a box. Early Dynastic Period, Dynasty 1, reign of Djer, ca. 3100–2900 B.C. Ivory. L: 7 cm (2 3/4 in.). From: Umm el-Qaab, Tomb of Djer, Abydos, Northern Upper Egypt, Egypt. Excavation: Egypt Exploration Fund excavations. Credit: Gift of Egypt Exploration Fund, 1901.

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.

Rectangular ivory strip, likely an inlay, with a geometric pattern of incised lines and partial marks; a handwritten-style inventory number is visible on the right end.

The image shows a long, narrow, horizontally oriented rectangular object with slightly rounded ends, photographed against a yellow textile background. The surface is off-white/ivory in appearance and bears shallow carved/incised geometric elements: at the left end there are diagonals forming a triangular or crosshatched motif, while near the center there are faint intersecting lines suggestive of a patterned inlay. On the right side, close to the end, there is clear black ink text reading like an inventory/label number: “01.4.95”. No painted color fields or figurative scenes are visible. There are no legible hieroglyphic cartouches or royal names, and no clear deity iconography is present. The object appears consistent with a small architectural/box inlay element rather than a standalone sculpture.

decorative Early Dynastic Period (per catalogue); specific carving style consistent with simple geometric incisions, but exact dating from the image alone is unclear. good
Materials ivory
Visible text "“01.4.95” (appears to be a modern inventory/registration number, not readable hieroglyphic text)"

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

“01.4.95” (appears to be a modern inventory/registration number, not readable hieroglyphic text)

Connections

Found at Abydos
Materials Ivory

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116276944 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 01.4.95 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 547435 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.