Seal impression

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Egyptians did not have locks and keys. Instead, they would secure a chest or other container with a piece of knotted cord. A lump of clay was put over the knot and a seal was pressed into the clay. The cord would have to be cut, or the seal broken in order to open the container and remove the contents. This clay sealing preserves a seal impression about the size of a ring that may have served as an official seal. The impression has the trone name of Tutankhamun, Nebkheperure, in the cartouche at the left. The king is represented as a sphinx trampelling an enemy.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art