Fragment of a Temple Relief

The identity of the king depicted here is not known. His features resemble those of Nectanebo II, last king of Dynasty XXX (circa 380–342 B.C.), but he may be one of the Ptolemaic rulers. The empty cartouches do not necessarily imply that the scene was unfinished. The king's two names (the prenomen, or throne name, and the nomen, or family name) may have been painted and later lost. Alternatively, the cartouches may have been left blank to denote that the office of kingship itself mattered more than the particular king's identity.