Vista: Thames Street, No. 22, Man.
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Object Label
Foundation Deposits
In addition to commissioning new buildings, Egyptian kings occasionally claimed existing structures such as temples or palaces as their own.
The most common way for a king to do this was to substitute his own name for that of the original builder in the inscriptions. When a king commissioned a new structure, he buried objects in the four corners of the foundation to be certain that the gods would remember the true builder and that later kings could not find and reinscribe them. These so-called foundation deposits usually included plaques with the king’s name, as well as models of objects used to erect the building, such as grinders, hoes, and rockers needed to move large stones.
Caption
Berenice Abbott American, 1898–1991. Vista: Thames Street, No. 22, Man., February 15, 1938. Gelatin silver print, 9 5/16 x 7 1/8 in. (23.7 x 18.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X858.24. No known copyright restrictions
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Vista: Thames Street, No. 22, Man.
Date
February 15, 1938
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Classification
Dimensions
9 5/16 x 7 1/8 in. (23.7 x 18.1 cm)
Markings
Stamped on verso: "Federal Art Project 'Changing New York'"; "Place: Manhattan"; "Neg. #282 Code 1-D"
Credit Line
Brooklyn Museum Collection
Accession Number
X858.24
Rights
No known copyright restrictions
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