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

Cowroid Inscribed with a Nefer Hieroglyph

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

Description

Cowroid, nefer. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, early, reign of Thutmose II–Early Joint reign, ca. 1492–1473 B.C. Faience. L. 1.4 cm (9/16 in.), W. 0.8 cm (5/16 in.); H. 0.4 cm (3/16 in.). From: Tomb of Hatnefer and Ramose (below TT 71), coffin III, inside kohl jar c (36.3.7a, b), Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, 1935–36. Subject: Hieroglyphs. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1936.

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 small turquoise-blue faience amulet shaped like a cowroid, bearing an incised inscription/hieroglyphs.

The object is a blue, oval cowroid/torpedo-shaped amulet with a rounded top and bottom. On the face there is a central, vertical incised motif with horizontal elements near the top, resembling a hieroglyphic sign group associated with the word “nefer” (as per the catalogue), though the exact sign details are partially obscured by wear and loss of surface glaze. The background is smooth and glossy with darkened areas around the incised lines and along the edges, consistent with age-related chipping. No cartouche framing or additional clear royal titulary is visible. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is apparent.

decorative New Kingdom (per catalogue) fragmentary
Materials faience (glazed ceramic core visible through wear)
Signs Nefer ("good") hieroglyph (exact configuration uncertain due to wear)
Visible text "Incised “nefer” hieroglyph/sign group is visible centrally; exact excerpt/sign sequence unclear due to abrasion."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Incised “nefer” hieroglyph/sign group is visible centrally; exact excerpt/sign sequence unclear due to abrasion.

Connections

Found at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116274183 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 36.3.23 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 548969 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.