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

Papyrus Lids 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.

A rolled bundle of papyrus strips wound into a tight spiral, with a small portion of reddish-brown painted area near the outer edge.

The image shows a circular, tightly wound roll composed of layered papyrus strips, forming a spiral from the center outward. The papyrus fibers appear tan to straw-colored, with visible fraying and overlaps along the spiral edges. Near the lower-left/left side of the roll there is a small patch of reddish-brown markings on the papyrus surface, but no clearly legible hieroglyphs, cartouches, or figures are visible at this resolution. The background is a neutral gray display surface. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is apparent, and there are no clear deities depicted.

unclear New Kingdom (per catalogue; exact dating cannot be confirmed from the image alone) good
Materials papyrus fiberpigment (red/brown)
Signs Unclear red painted marking (possibly pigment decoration or fragmentary text)

Connections

Royals Tutankhamun
Materials Papyrus Fiber

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116280797 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 09.184.243 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 558595 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.