Surveyor's Stake from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple

New Kingdom

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 116

The Egyptian foundation ceremony was called "the stretching of the cord." This refers to the ritual of dedicating a temple, but it also describes the action of laying out the temple's ground plan by driving stakes into the earth and stretching a piece of cord between them. The stake (22.3.246) and a mallet (22.3.245) in this photograph are from one of the foundation deposit delineating the perimeter of Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahri.

Surveyor's Stake from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple, Wood

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Surveyor's Stake from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple, Wood
Surveyor's Stake from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple, Wood
Surveyor's Stake from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple, Wood
Surveyor's Stake from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple, Wood
Surveyor's Stake from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple, Wood
Surveyor's Stake from a Foundation Deposit for Hatshepsut's Temple, Wood

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.