Shadow Clock

Ptolemaic Period

306–30 B.C.

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 130

One of a handful of portable timepieces known from ancient Egypt, this fragment is from the type that told time by measuring the length of the sun's shadow. Preserved here is the block with a sloping face with a series of parallel and oblique lines engraved on its face to mark off the time. The original piece would also have had a perpendicular block set up in front of the sloping face to serve as a gnomon and cast a shadow.

Artwork Details

Overview

Curatorial Interpretation

Provenance

References

Title: Shadow Clock
Period: Ptolemaic Period
Date: 306–30 B.C.
Geography: From Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Dra Abu el-Naga, Carnarvon/Carter excavations
Medium: Marble
Dimensions: H. 9.3 × W. 5.2 × D. 14.7 cm, 1.3 kg (3 11/16 × 2 1/16 × 5 13/16 in., 2.9 lb.)
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1912
Object Number: 12.181.307
Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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