Signet Ring Inscribed for Akhenaten
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
Egyptian Metalwork
Egyptian artisans used both local and imported metals to make jewelry, vessels, tools, and other objects like the ones displayed here.
Gold existed as a pure metal in the desert east of Luxor and farther south in Nubia, whose name means “Gold Land,” but silver had to be imported from Crete, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia. Most electrum (a natural alloy of gold and silver) was brought from Nubia, but some was made in Egypt. Copper was the most commonly used metal in ancient Egypt.
Beginning in the late Middle Kingdom or shortly thereafter, workers learned how to produce bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, from metalsmiths in western Asia. By the New Kingdom, metalworkers had mastered techniques that are still practiced today, including hammering, soldering, burnishing, engraving, repoussé (creating a raised image on a metal sheet), sheetworking, and casting. In sheetworking—used to make bowls, basins, and some thin jewelry— rough metal slabs called ingots were hammered into thin sheets and shaped into the desired form. Individual sheets could be joined with rivets or by soldering. Workers made tools, statues, and thick jewelry such as rings by pouring molten metal into molds. While many Middle Kingdom objects were solid cast, by the end of the period artisans had learned the lost-wax method of casting, producing hollow metal pieces around a clay core.
Egyptian artisans used both local and imported metals to make jewelry, vessels, tools, and other objects like the ones displayed here.
Gold existed as a pure metal in the desert east of Luxor and farther south in Nubia, whose name means “Gold Land,” but silver had to be imported from Crete, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia. Most electrum (a natural alloy of gold and silver) was brought from Nubia, but some was made in Egypt. Copper was the most commonly used metal in ancient Egypt.
Beginning in the late Middle Kingdom or shortly thereafter, workers learned how to produce bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, from metalsmiths in western Asia. By the New Kingdom, metalworkers had mastered techniques that are still practiced today, including hammering, soldering, burnishing, engraving, repoussé (creating a raised image on a metal sheet), sheetworking, and casting. In sheetworking—used to make bowls, basins, and some thin jewelry— rough metal slabs called ingots were hammered into thin sheets and shaped into the desired form. Individual sheets could be joined with rivets or by soldering. Workers made tools, statues, and thick jewelry such as rings by pouring molten metal into molds. While many Middle Kingdom objects were solid cast, by the end of the period artisans had learned the lost-wax method of casting, producing hollow metal pieces around a clay core.
MEDIUM
Electrum
DATES
ca. 1353–1336 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 18
PERIOD
New Kingdom, Amarna Period
DIMENSIONS
Diam. of inner part of ring 11/16 x Length of bezel 11/16 in. (1.7 x 1.7 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
33.681
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
PROVENANCE
Archaeological provenance not yet documented; by 1933, acquired by Maurice Nahman of Cairo, Egypt; 1933, purchased in Paris, France from Maurice Nahman by Jean Capart for the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Signet ring of electrum with oval bezel on which the rekhit bird is worshipping the Horus name of Amenhotep “Living of truth”. Probably the item belonged to a member of the royal family at El Amarna. The hieroglyphs are filled in with a green substance but this is probably only an accumulation. Condition, excellent with only a few green stains.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
CAPTION
Signet Ring Inscribed for Akhenaten, ca. 1353–1336 B.C.E. Electrum, Diam. of inner part of ring 11/16 x Length of bezel 11/16 in. (1.7 x 1.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 33.681. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.33.681_erg456.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, CUR.33.681_erg456.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 9/5/2007
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
