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). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.620.6. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.620.6_bw.jpg)
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). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.620.6. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , CUR.36.620.1-.6_erg456.jpg)
Model Vessel Inscribed for Amunhotep II
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
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.
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.
MEDIUM
Egyptian alabaster
DATES
ca. 1426–1400 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 18
PERIOD
New Kingdom
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) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
36.620.6
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
PROVENANCE
Archaeological provenance not yet documented, probably excavated by the Egyptian Antiquities Service at the Temple of Amenophis II, near the Great Sphinx, Giza, Egypt; by 1936, acquired by Louis Herse of Alexandria, Egypt; 1936, purchased from Louis Herse by the Brooklyn Museum.
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EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
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). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.620.6. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.620.6_bw.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, CUR.36.620.6_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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