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

Mold for a Ring Bezel with an Ankh Hieroglyph

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

Description

New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III, ca. 1390–1352 B.C. Pottery. H. 1.8 cm (11/16 in); w. 1.5 cm (9/16 in). From: Khor west of camp or E. side of S. Village, Malqata, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, probably 1911–12. Subject: Ankh. 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.

A roughly oval, weathered terracotta piece with an incised or molded recessed design on one face, resembling an Egyptian hieroglyphic form (possibly an ankh) inside an oval outline.

The image shows a small, rounded-oval artifact photographed against a white background. The surface appears sandy and abraded, consistent with fired clay/terracotta. On the upper/left face there is a recessed figure: a vertical bar intersected by a loop-like element, enclosed within a surrounding oval or border. The remaining surfaces are plain aside from age-related wear and minor chips. No cartouches or royal titulary are visible. No additional legible hieroglyphic rows, or Greek/Coptic/Arabic text are apparent in the provided view.

unclear New Kingdom (as catalogued) poor
Materials potteryterracotta
Signs Ankh (looped cross)
Visible text "Recessed ankh-like hieroglyph within a surrounding oval; exact details unclear due to wear."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Recessed ankh-like hieroglyph within a surrounding oval; exact details unclear due to wear.

Connections

Found at Malqata
Materials PotteryTerracotta
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.