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

Section of lute instrument

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

Description

Music, lute. Early New Kingdom–Ramesside Period, ca. 1550–1295 B.C. Wood. L. 34.5 cm (13 9/16 in.); W. 8.2 cm (3 1/4 in.). From: Dra Abu el-Naga, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: Carnarvon/Carter excavations. Subject: Lutes. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1912.

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 hollow, boat-shaped section of a wooden lute-like musical instrument, viewed from the side with a drilled/stitched-looking opening at one end.

The object is shown on a plain light background in a side-profile view. It appears to be a curved, elongated shell carved from wood: a wide, oval cross-section forms the body with a longitudinal hollow interior. The outer surface shows weathering and minor cracks/spall, while the ends are unevenly broken, suggesting it is a segment rather than a complete instrument. Along the inside edge near one end there are darker lines that could be due to shadowing, oxidation, or tool marks; no clear decorative carving, painted elements, or visible attachments (e.g., metal fittings) are apparent. No hieroglyphs, cartouches, or other script are visible on this segment. No deities or royal names can be identified from the image.

decorative Early New Kingdom–Ramesside Period (per catalogue ground truth); exact dating not determinable from image alone. fragmentary
Materials wood

Connections

Found at Dra Abu el-Naga
Materials Wood

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116244888 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 12.181.294 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 554346 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.