Bivalve-shaped Stone

New Kingdom

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 116

This stone is inscribed, "The Good Goddess, Maatkare, she made [it] as her monument for her father, Amun-Re, at the stretching of the cord over Djeser-djeseru-Amun (Hatshepsut's mortuary temple), which she did while alive." Sometimes described as clamshells because of their shape, stones such as this one probably represent tools of some sort, such as hammering stones, that would have been used in the construction of the building.

Bivalve-shaped Stone, Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)

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Bivalve-shaped Stone, Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)
Bivalve-shaped Stone, Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)
Bivalve-shaped Stone, Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)
Bivalve-shaped Stone, Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)

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