anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

, the middle temporal artery is a major

artery An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

which arises immediately above the

zygomatic arch In anatomy, the zygomatic arch (colloquially known as the cheek bone), is a part of the skull formed by the zygomatic process of temporal bone, zygomatic process of the temporal bone (a bone extending forward from the side of the skull, over the ...

, and, perforating the

temporal fascia The temporal fascia (or deep temporal fascia) is a fascia of the head that covers the temporalis muscle and structures situated superior to the zygomatic arch. The fascia is attached superiorly at the superior temporal line; inferiorly, it split ...

, gives branches to the

temporalis In anatomy, the temporalis muscle, also known as the temporal muscle, is one of the muscles of mastication (chewing). It is a broad, fan-shaped convergent muscle on each side of the head that fills the temporal fossa, superior to the zygomatic ...

, anastomosing with the deep temporal branches of the internal maxillary. It occasionally gives off a zygomatico-orbital branch, which runs along the upper border of the zygomatic arch, between the two layers of the temporal fascia, to the lateral angle of the

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

(the eye socket).

Additional images

File:Gray137.png, Left temporal bone. Outer surface.

References

Arteries of the head and neck {{circulatory-stub