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

Papyrus Lid from the Embalming Cache of Tutankhamun

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

Description

Jar Lid, papyrus. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Tutankhamun, ca. 1336–1327 B.C. Papyrus fiber. Diam. 10 cm (3 15/16 in.). From: Embalming Cache of Tutankhamun (KV 54), Valley of the Kings, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: Davis/Ayrton excavations, 1907–08. 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.

Round papyrus lid segment with radiating papyrus fibers, inscribed with an orange/red accession-like number across the center.

The object is a circular, disk-like fragment made of dried papyrus fiber arranged in radial segments, giving a fan/wheel appearance around a central plane. Along the middle of the piece there is visible orange/red painted or stamped text reading “05.199.242” (exact punctuation unclear), oriented horizontally relative to the image. No readable Egyptian hieroglyphs, cartouches, or Greek/Coptic/Arabic inscriptions are clearly visible on the surface; the orange marking appears more like a modern collection/registration number than an ancient inscription. Edges are irregular and the fragment is incomplete, with some fiber loss and small holes/damage visible.

decorative New Kingdom (catalogue-provided; no secure ancient inscription visible to confirm from image alone) fragmentary
Materials papyrus fiber
Signs Accession/registration number (modern)
Visible text "“05.199.242” (orange/red; exact separators uncertain)"

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

“05.199.242” (orange/red; exact separators uncertain)

Connections

Found at Valley of the Kings
Royals Tutankhamun
Materials Papyrus Fiber

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116280798 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 09.184.242 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 558594 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.