Bivalve-shaped Stone

Unknown

ca. 1479–1458 B.C. · Travertine (Egyptian alabaster) · Egyptian Art

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.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1479–1458 B.C.

Medium

Travertine (Egyptian alabaster)

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1927