Fragment of a torus molding from the shrine of a royal woman within the temple of Mentuhotep II

Fragment of a torus molding from the shrine of a royal woman within the temple of Mentuhotep II

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A torus is a half-round or three-quarter round, tube-shaped molding that appears along the outer edges of a building, either horizontally or vertically. The torus may be a depiction of the wood framework of simple houses with the bindings for the attachment of reed mats. This torus originally sat horizontally, as indicated by small parts of the cavetto above it (a cavetto is a finishing element at the upper edge of a wall or door).

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fragment of a torus molding from the shrine of a royal woman within the temple of Mentuhotep IIFragment of a torus molding from the shrine of a royal woman within the temple of Mentuhotep IIFragment of a torus molding from the shrine of a royal woman within the temple of Mentuhotep IIFragment of a torus molding from the shrine of a royal woman within the temple of Mentuhotep IIFragment of a torus molding from the shrine of a royal woman within the temple of Mentuhotep II

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.