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

Relief fragment, Meketre

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

Description

Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, reign of Amenemhat I, early, ca. 1981–1975 B.C. Limestone, paint. H. 5.9 × W. 7.1 × D. 1.6 cm (2 5/16 × 2 13/16 × 5/8 in.). From: Tomb of Meketre (TT 280, MMA 1101), Southern Asasif, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, 1920. Credit: Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1920.

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.

Two opposing views of a limestone relief fragment showing parts of carved hieroglyphic-like strokes and traces of surface coloring/paint.

The image presents two separate photographed fragments (left and right) laid against a light background. Both pieces have a light, pale stone surface consistent with limestone. The relief carving is shallow and includes rounded/curving incised lines that resemble the upper portions of hieroglyphs, but the full signs are not preserved. On the right fragment, several vertical and curved strokes are visible near the center, again without enough intact context to confidently identify specific sign forms. No clear human figure, deity, or royal cartouche is fully preserved. Faint discoloration/marks suggest remnants of original painted color, consistent with the catalogue material description. Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is not visible.

decorative Middle Kingdom (as per catalogue) fragmentary
Materials limestonetraces of paint/colored surface
Signs Unidentified hieroglyphic strokes/relief sign (partial) ×3
Visible text "Partial, illegible hieroglyphic strokes; no complete word/cartouche preserved."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Partial, illegible hieroglyphic strokes; no complete word/cartouche preserved.

Connections

Found at Asasif
Materials Limestone

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116275114 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 20.3.1041 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 562118 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.