Egyptian merkhet
- Made:
- 600 BCE in Egypt
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LicenseThis image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseEgyptian Merkhet
Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Egyptian 'star clock' (merkhet), c 600 BC. Front view, light grey background. From a colour transparency in the Science
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
'Merkhet', Ancient Egyptian astronomical timekeeping instrument, bronze with hieroglyphic text inlaid with electum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
'Merkhet', Ancient Egyptian astronomical timekeeping instrument, bronze with hieroglyphic text inlaid with electum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Merkhet, a timekeeping and surveying instrument, made in Ancient Egypt, 600BCE. Made in bronze with hieroglyphic text inlaid with electrum metal. The device has been fitted with a replica plumb bob, probably at some point during the early twenieth century.
The hieroglyphic inscription indicates that this instrument was the property of Bes, son of Khonsirtis (Khensardais var.), an astronomer priest of the god, Horus of Edfu in Upper Egypt. As a timekeeping instrument, it would have been used to determine the hours by the sun during the day and by onserving the passage of selected stars across the north-south meridian during the night. As a surveying instrument, it would have been used to layout axes of buildings.
Details
- Category:
- Time Measurement
- Materials:
- bronze, electrum (gold-silver alloy) and textile
- Measurements:
-
overall: 25 mm x 93 mm x 22 mm, 0.098 kg
- Identifier:
- 1929-585
- type:
- sundial
- taxonomy:
-
- furnishing and equipment
- measuring device - instrument
- timepiece
- credit:
- Dr Howard Carter
