diff --git a/datajoint/declare.py b/datajoint/declare.py
index 683e34759..0c9d0266b 100644
--- a/datajoint/declare.py
+++ b/datajoint/declare.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import re
 import pyparsing as pp
 import logging
+from hashlib import sha1
 from .errors import DataJointError, _support_filepath_types, FILEPATH_FEATURE_SWITCH
 from .attribute_adapter import get_adapter
 from .condition import translate_attribute
@@ -309,6 +310,20 @@ def declare(full_table_name, definition, context):
         external_stores,
     ) = prepare_declare(definition, context)
 
+    metadata_attr_sql = [
+        "`_{full_table_name}_timestamp` timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP"
+    ]
+    attribute_sql.extend(
+        [
+            attr.format(
+                full_table_name=sha1(
+                    full_table_name.replace("`", "").encode("utf-8")
+                ).hexdigest()
+            )
+            for attr in metadata_attr_sql
+        ]
+    )
+
     if not primary_key:
         raise DataJointError("Table must have a primary key")
 
diff --git a/datajoint/heading.py b/datajoint/heading.py
index 9a782fc0e..c2d8ed527 100644
--- a/datajoint/heading.py
+++ b/datajoint/heading.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
         is_attachment=False,
         is_filepath=False,
         is_external=False,
+        is_hidden=False,
         adapter=None,
         store=None,
         unsupported=False,
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ def table_status(self):
     def attributes(self):
         if self._attributes is None:
             self._init_from_database()  # lazy loading from database
-        return self._attributes
+        return {k: v for k, v in self._attributes.items() if not v.is_hidden}
 
     @property
     def names(self):
@@ -298,6 +299,7 @@ def _init_from_database(self):
                 store=None,
                 is_external=False,
                 attribute_expression=None,
+                is_hidden=attr["name"].startswith("_"),
             )
 
             if any(TYPE_PATTERN[t].match(attr["type"]) for t in ("INTEGER", "FLOAT")):
diff --git a/tests_old/test_blob_matlab.py b/tests_old/test_blob_matlab.py
index 6104c9291..a2fa67fd8 100644
--- a/tests_old/test_blob_matlab.py
+++ b/tests_old/test_blob_matlab.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def insert_blobs():
 
     schema.connection.query(
         """
-    INSERT INTO {table_name} VALUES
+    INSERT INTO {table_name} (`id`, `comment`, `blob`) VALUES
     (1,'simple string',0x6D596D00410200000000000000010000000000000010000000000000000400000000000000630068006100720061006300740065007200200073007400720069006E006700),
     (2,'1D vector',0x6D596D0041020000000000000001000000000000000C000000000000000600000000000000000000000000F03F00000000000030400000000000003F4000000000000047400000000000804E4000000000000053400000000000C056400000000000805A400000000000405E4000000000000061400000000000E062400000000000C06440),
     (3,'string array',0x6D596D00430200000000000000010000000000000002000000000000002F0000000000000041020000000000000001000000000000000700000000000000040000000000000073007400720069006E00670031002F0000000000000041020000000000000001000000000000000700000000000000040000000000000073007400720069006E0067003200),
diff --git a/tests_old/test_declare.py b/tests_old/test_declare.py
index 67f532449..8c2c2caff 100644
--- a/tests_old/test_declare.py
+++ b/tests_old/test_declare.py
@@ -341,3 +341,18 @@ class WithSuchALongPartNameThatItCrashesMySQL(dj.Part):
                 definition = """
                 -> (master)
                 """
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def test_hidden_attributes():
+        assert (
+            list(Experiment().heading._attributes.keys())[-1].split("_")[2]
+            == "timestamp"
+        )
+        assert (
+            len([a for a in Experiment().heading._attributes.values() if a.is_hidden])
+            != 0
+        )
+        assert (
+            len([a for a in Experiment().heading.attributes.values() if a.is_hidden])
+            == 0
+        )