Model Vessel Inscribed for Amunhotep II
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
Model Vessel Inscribed for Amunhotep II, ca. 1426–1400 B.C.E.. Egyptian alabaster, Other (max): 5 5/16 x 3 3/8 in. (13.5 x 8.6 cm) Other (min): 3 1/8 x 1 7/8 in. (7.9 x 4.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.620.5. Creative Commons-BY
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Title
Model Vessel Inscribed for Amunhotep II
Date
ca. 1426–1400 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Place made: Egypt
Medium
Egyptian alabaster
Classification
Dimensions
Other (max): 5 5/16 x 3 3/8 in. (13.5 x 8.6 cm) Other (min): 3 1/8 x 1 7/8 in. (7.9 x 4.8 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
36.620.5
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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