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

Seal Impression Attatched to a Fiber Tie from Tutankhamun's Embalming Cache

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

Description

Sealing, fiber tie. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Tutankhamun, ca. 1336–1327 B.C. Mud, fiber. Seal and tie: L. 4.2 cm (1 5/8 in.) Seal: L. 2.5 cm (1 in.); W. 1.8 cm (11/16 in.). From: Embalming Cache of Tutankhamun (KV 54), Valley of the Kings, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: Davis/Ayrton excavations, 1907–08. Subject: Hieroglyphs. Credit: Gift of Theodore M. Davis, 1909.

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.

Small, ovoid seal impression formed in mud, attached to a twisted fiber cord, showing a central raised emblem within a border.

The image depicts a dark gray, mud-like seal impression that has been pressed to create an incised/relief design. The seal is roughly oval and tapers at one end, with a central figure/emblem resembling a standing/enshrined deity or protective icon, framed by a rectangular border and additional small marks around the scene. A thin, dried twisted fiber (cord/strap) is attached to one side of the seal impression and extends outward to the right. No clearly legible hieroglyphic text is visible at this resolution; the marks appear iconographic rather than readable inscriptions. No Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is present.

decorative New Kingdom (in line with catalogue; specific ruler not securely identifiable from the image) good
Deities unknown
Royals unknown
Materials mudfiber
Signs Unknown iconographic figure/emblem (possibly a deity/protective symbol)

Connections

Royals Tutankhamun
Materials MudFiber

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116272686 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 09.184.262 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 550175 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.