Model Stone Rocker from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple

Model Stone Rocker from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

When a pharaoh decided to build a temple, a foundation ceremony was performed during which the outlines of the building were marked by cords stretched over wooden pegs. At certain places along the circumference or the axis of the future building holes were dug in the ground into which the king placed votive objects. Many of the objects placed in foundation deposits were tools used for construction of the building or of the shrines and statues to be housed within it. Some tools, such as this brick cradle, were models; others were full-size, usable tools (see 96.4.7).

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Model Stone Rocker from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's TempleModel Stone Rocker from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's TempleModel Stone Rocker from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's TempleModel Stone Rocker from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's TempleModel Stone Rocker from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple

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.