A WHITE AND BLUE GLAZED COMPOSITION BOOK PLATE OF AMENOPHIS IV

EARLY DYNASTY XVIII, REIGN OF AMENOPHIS IV (1353-1335 B.C.)

Details
A WHITE AND BLUE GLAZED COMPOSITION BOOK PLATE OF AMENOPHIS IV
EARLY DYNASTY XVIII, REIGN OF AMENOPHIS IV (1353-1335 B.C.)
Inscribed with an early cartouche of Amenophis IV, "Amenhotep, Ruler of Thebes, great in his time", details in purple-blue glaze
1½ in. (4 cm.) long

Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
Due to be published in 1999 or 2000 in a forthcoming publication by P. Vernus on Writings in Ancient Egypt.

This is an interesting pre-Amarna example of the name of Amenophis IV before he changed his name to Akhenaten. Cf. A. Kozloff (ed.), Egypt's Dazzling Sun, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1992, col. pl. 52, p. 399, no. 101, where there is a similar 'book plate' belonging to his father Amenophis III, thought to be used as an attachment to wooden caskets containing papyrus rolls. Although this one does not have the name of a book, a similar one in the British Museum bears the title "the book of the moringa tree" and another in the Yale University Art Gallery "the book of the pomegranate tree"; cf. also F. D. Friedman (ed.), Gifts of the Nile, Ancient Egyptian Faience, London, 1998, no. 24, col. pl. p. 80.

More from Antiquities

View All
View All