Hieratic Jar Label

Hieratic Jar Label

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's Egyptian Expedition to Malkata (1910-1920) recovered some fourteen hundred hieratic jar labels from the palace complex of Amenhotep III. Written in black ink, the inscriptions identify the commodity inside the jar (wine, ale, fat, meat, etc.). The longer texts also provide the year, the source of the commodity, the occasion for which it was prepared, and the name and title of the official making the donation. Because these inscriptions are stereotyped, it is often possible to restore a complete label from a small fragment. The inscription on this jar dates to year 38 in the reign of Amenhotep III. It contained fat prepared by a man named Iuamen and donated by the royal scribe Ahmose.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hieratic Jar LabelHieratic Jar LabelHieratic Jar LabelHieratic Jar LabelHieratic Jar Label

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.