Key

Art Historical Context

Step into the world of Ptolemaic Egypt with this unassuming yet remarkable iron key, crafted between 306 and 30 B.C. Measuring just 12.3 cm long, this slender artifact (L. 12.3 × W. 1 × Th. 1.3 cm) was likely used to secure doors, chests, or shrines in daily life. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Egyptian Art department (Rogers Fund, 1912), it exemplifies the practical ingenuity of a era blending Egyptian traditions with Hellenistic influences under Greek Ptolemaic rulers. Iron was a relatively new and prized material in Egypt during this period, introduced through trade and conques...