Block from a Temple

Inscriptions

Inscribed, on reverse, in graphite: Found near the royal necropolis, Thebes; carved, on front left, two cartouches with Pharaoh's names

Label

This fragment of ancient Egyptian architecture holds more questions than answers. It features the upper torso and head of a pharaoh with a false beard and the red crown of Lower Egypt. The pharaoh was once part of a larger scene—we can see him offering a small figure that represents the concept of Maat (balance and justice) to someone, presumably a divine figure, to the left. The pharaoh would have once been identifiable through the two cartouches at the top left; only one remains legible, letting us know that he was one of the Ptolemies, but which Ptolemy is unknowable.

Sometimes, museum records and information from early collectors can contribute to the confusion. Text in pencil on the back of the relief states: “Found near the royal necropolis, Thebes.” However, decades of consultation with Egyptologists have failed to produce a more specific (or accurate) original location, and the raised relief decoration of the block does not align with any of the temples in the described area.

From the exhibition, Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

REL 55, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Susan Ackerman, Spring 2015

REL 55, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Susan Ackerman, Spring 2015

REL 55, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Susan Ackerman, Fall 2019

REL 55, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Susan Ackerman, Fall 2019

REL 55, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Susan Ackerman, Fall 2019

History 10.02, Archival Research, Julia Rabig, Summer 2025

Anthropology 31.01, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 36.01, Gender in Cross Cultural Perspectives, Sabrina Billings, Fall 2025

Theater 15.01, Theatre & Society I, Samantha Lazar, Fall 2025

Exhibition History

Egyptian Antiquities at Dartmouth, Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 12, 2011-August 13, 2012.

Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 7, 2025 - Ongoing

Provenance

Collected by Mary Maynard Hitchcock (1834-1887) and Hiram Hitchcock (1832-1900, Class of 1872H), in Egypt (possibly from a dealer in Alexandria or Cairo), about 1867-68; bequeathed to his second wife, Emily Howe Hitchcock (1852-1912), Hanover, New Hampshire, 1900; bequeathed to present collection, 1912.

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Subjects