Museum Pieces - Bronze statuette of the moon god Iah

Bronze statuette of the moon god Iah

From Egypt
Late Period, after 600 BC

Height: 22.000 cm
EA 12587

The moon god Iah holding the eye of Horus

The god Iah, whose name means 'moon', first appears in the Late Period (661-332 BC). The moon god was assimilated with Osiris, god of the dead. Perhaps because, in its monthly cycle, the moon appears to renew itself. Iah also seems to have assumed the lunar aspect of Thoth, god of knowledge, writing and calculation; the segments of the moon were used as fractional symbols in writing.

Thoth was seen as the intermediary between rage and peace among the gods. According to myth, Thoth was responsible for returning the solar eye to Re after a goddess, variously interpreted as Hathor, Sekhmet or Tefnut, had fled with it to Nubia. At this time the sun-god was ruler on earth and had learned that humans were plotting against him. He decided to send the solar eye to destroy them. After the first day of destruction Re was so sickened with the carnage that he decided to spare mankind. To make the goddess forget her task, Re tricked her by making her drunk with 7000 jars of red-stained beer. When she became sober again she retreated to Nubia in embarrassment. Thoth was sent after her by Re, who eventually coaxed her into returning.

S. Quirke and A.J. Spencer, The British Museum book of anc (London, The British Museum Press, 1992)

Source: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/b/bronze_statuette_of_moon_god.aspx

Museum Pieces - Bronze Situla

Bolton Museum

Bronze Situla

Cast bronze situla, votive offering, with lotiform petal base decorated with scenes in three registers around vessel.

ID: 197113A
Object: Situla
Provenance: North Saqqara
Period: Late Period; C4 B.C. (?)
Material: Copper-alloy (bronze)
Reference number: 1971.13:A


Situla - A sacred vessel used for religious ceremonies, the situla is a very small round-bottomed bucket or pail, usually cast from bronze and decorated with mythological motifs. During the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, the situla was carried by the priests of Isis and used in rituals and processions. The situla held holy water from the Nile or milk as a symbol of Isis in her form as a mother goddess.








Sources: 

http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/collections/item/439?keyword=situla&subjectId=4

Egyptian Mythology, A to Z,  By Pat Remler, page 180

New discoveries at Luxor

By Rany Mostafa:

Tomb of “divine wife of God Amun” unearthed in Luxor

CAIRO: The tomb of “the divine wife of God Amun,” an ancient Egyptian title given only to royal wives, has been discovered at the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramses II in the west bank of Luxor, according to Abdel-Hakim Karar, director of the Upper Egypt Antiquities Department, Thursday.

“The tomb is relatively small with a stone door leading to a 5-meter shaft and a burial chamber, where funerary equipments, offerings and 20 well-preserved statuettes were found,” Karar told The Cairo Post Thursday.

The statuettes, found by the tomb’s entrance, bore the name of  “Karomama” and hieroglyphic inscriptions describe her as “the earthly spouse of the god Amun,” and we believe she may have been the wife of the 22nd Dynasty’s Pharaoh Osorkon II (872B.C–837B.C.,) said Karar.

The discovery was made by French-Egyptian mission led by Christian Leblanc, a French archaeologist, who has been excavating in the mortuary temple and the tomb of Ramses II since 1980s.

“The new discovery may not be spectacular from the artistic point of view, but due to the scarcity of Karomama’s artifacts that have been discovered so far, it is definitely a significant find as it sheds more light on her life,” Leblanc was quoted by the Pharaoh Magazine Thursday.

Museum Pieces - A Worshipper Kneeling Before the God Anubis

Photocredit: Walters Art Museum

A Worshipper Kneeling Before the God Anubis

A bronze statuette of the anthropomorphic god Anubis facing a kneeling worshipper. He has the head of a jackal and the body of a human male. The piece has been cast in three sections and then joined. The eyes of Anubis are inlaid with gold and there are traces of gilding on the shoulders, wrists, ankles, neck, wig, and ears. The gilding was delicately applied to the eyes, eyebrows and muzzle, but in other areas it appears to have been applied in a more careless fashion. The piece is well preserved in general but there is a break on the lower back corner of the base and there is some green and bright blue corrosion on the lower side of the base. 

A hieroglyphic inscription runs around the main base, the base of the Anubis figure and along the back pillar of the worshiper, identifying the dedicant as one Wdja-Hor-resnet, son of Ankh-pa-khered, who is asking for the blessings of the god Anubis. The figure of Anubis is in a striding position with his proper left leg advanced. His proper right arm hangs at his side and the right hand is clenched into a fist with the thumb protruding. The proper left arm is raised and bent at the elbow and there is a drilled hole in the hand for the insertion of an object. Earlier photographs of this piece in Darresy's "Statues de Divinités," show that the missing object was a "was" scepter. He wears a tripartite wig, "shendyt" kilt with deep pleats and a striated belt. A broad collar, armlets and bracelets are incised and gilded. Anklets are suggested by the gilding around the ankles but they are not incised. The musculature of the limbs and the torso is clearly defined. The ears of the god are large and the inner detailing has been carefully modeled. The muzzle comes to a delicate point, accentuating the skillfully modeled eyes, sweeping brows, nose and mouth. 

There are two cobras at the feet of the deity facing the worshipper. The proper right cobra wears the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and the left cobra wears the White Crown of Upper Egypt. The head of the left cobra is raised slightly higher than that of the right. A worshipper kneels before the god with his back against an inscribed pillar which is pyramidal at the top. He kneels with both knees down on a flat rectangular base, which is attached to the larger main base below. He extends his hands to the god palms down. He wears a "shendyt" kilt, but the pleats are not carved with the same precision that is seen on the kilt of the god. The bent knees are squared off unnaturally and the legs blend together below the kilt. He has an inscribed broad collar. He also wears a skull cap, the front line of which is clearly marked across his brow. The face is round with full cheeks and no definition of the chin. The ears are large and set high. The eyes are natural and do not have cosmetic brows. The nose is straight and the mouth is small with slightly pursed lips. The overall surface of the worshipper is pitted whereas the figure of Anubis has a high polish.

[Translation] May Anubis, give life, health, long life and great and good old age to Wdja-Hor-resnet, son of Ankh-pa-khered, whose mother is Ta-gemiw(t), who is born (made) of the Mistress of the house, Hy-inty for Pen-pa-djew./ May Anubis give life to Wdje-hor-resnet, son of Ankh-pa-khered./ May Anubis, who is before the place of the divine booth, give life, health, strength, a long life, and a great old age and happiness to the son of Ankh-pa-khered, whose mother is Ta-gemiw(t), who is Mistress of the House, Hy-inty for Pen-pa-djew.

Acquired by Henry Walters, 1930

PERIOD: ca. 747-525 BCE (Third Intermediate Period-Late Period, 25th-26th dynasty)

MEDIUM: bronze with gilt, gold inlay

ACCESSION NUMBER: 54.400

MEASUREMENTS: H: 8 3/16 x W: 5 11/16 x D: 2 1/16 in. (20.8 x 14.4 x 5.3 cm)

Read more about Anubis...

Museum Pieces - Counterpoise of a menat

Counterpoise of a menat

A bronze decorative counterpoise of a menat. It has the form of Sakhmet, with her body represented as a shrine. A figure of the goddess stands within the shrine wearing a sun or moon-disk. The menat, a bead necklace with counterpoise, was an important ritual object used by priestesses in temple ceremonies, and could be rattled to accompany singing and dancing.

Present location: LIVERPOOL MUSEUM [03/061] LIVERPOOL
Inventory number: 1987.408
Dating: 18TH DYNASTY
Archaeological Site: UNKNOWN
Category: MENAT
Material: BRONZE
Technique: FULL CAST
Height: 15 cm

Menat

The menat (mnit) consists of several strings of beads joined together to a two-part end piece shaped like a rectangle or trapezium with a disk attached. This part functioned as a counterpoise whenever the menat was worn as a necklace. The menat was also often carried in the hand. The strings of beads resulted in the menat making a rattling noise when shaken, similar to that of a sistrum. Together with the sistrum, the menat was used as an accompanying instrument for song and dance.

The first illustrations date from the 6th Dynasty and show the menat being held by women who had functions in the cult of Hathor. Hathor is often shown herself with a menat around her neck, and it can even be seen as one of the manifestations of Hathor, with the counterpoise often taking the shape of the face of Hathor. Hathor's son, Ihy, uses the menat as a musical instrument, just like the musicians named after him who performed at Hathor festivals. Via Ihy, the instrument was transferred to Khons.

The menat is considered to be multifunctional - it could be used for protection, to calm a divine power, or to transfer something of the being of the goddess to the person who touched the menat. The close connection to Hathor meant that contact with the menat would transfer zest for life and love. One relief shows the goddess holding a menat to the nose of the king, as if it were an ankh sign. It is also related to the sphere of fertility and birth. From the late New Kingdom on, the deceased was given the end piece of a menat; in representations they wear it as a kind of pectoral. The friezes on sarcophagi dating to the Middle Kingdom already show complete menats; they represent the menats which were offered to the deceased in the tomb reliefs by dancers.

Bibliography

Piotr Bienkowski and Angela Tooley., Gifts of The Nile: Ancient Egyptian Arts and Crafts in Liverpool Museum., 1995., 62; pl.96.

Sources:

http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/detail.aspx?id=3521

http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=238

Museum Pieces - Statuette of Imhotep

Statuette of Imhotep

Category: Sculpture in the round, figurines / statuettes, human / gods and goddesses figurines
Date: Ancient Egyptian period, Late Period (664-332 BCE)
Provenance: Upper Egypt, Giza, Saqqara
Material(s): Non-organic material, alloy, bronze
Height: 14.5 cm
Registration Number(s): BAAM Serial 0591, CG 38873

Description

A bronze statue of Imhotep sitting with his hands resting on his knees holding a papyrus roll.  This Late Period statue was found in Saqqara.



Imhotep

Imhotep was the famous architect and vizier of King Djoser of the Third Dynasty (Old Kingdom) who built the Saqqara complex and the step pyramid. Manetho ascribes to him the innovation of building in dressed stone. His name was found inscribed on a statue belonging to King Djoser in the Saqqara step-pyramid complex bearing his titles. He was 'the builder, sculptor and maker of stone vases'; the 'royal chancellor, first under the king, ruler of the great mansion, member of the Pat, greatest of seers, and overseer of masons and painters'.

During the New Kingdom, new titles were added to him, such as 'High Priest', the 'Sage', 'Chief Scribe' and 'Son of the god Ptah.

Imhotep, while honoured during his lifetime, was deified two thousand years after his death in the Late (Saite) Period and was considered the god of wisdom, writing and medicine. He was linked to the gods Ptah and Thoth. 

The Greeks associated him with their god of medicine, Asklepius.  His cult centre at Saqqara (the Asklepion) became a pilgrimage centre for those seeking healing.  He was also worshipped at temples of Deir El Medina, Karnak, Deir El Bahari and Philae.

It is believed that his tomb lies in the northern part of the Saqqara necropolis, however, it has not been found to date.

Bibliography

Corteggiani, Jean Pierre. L'Egypte des Pharaons au Musée du Caire. Paris: Hachette, Les Livres de France, 1986.
"Imhotep". In Dictionary of Egyptian civilization. By Posener, Georges, Serge Sauneron and Jean Yoyotte. Translated from the French by Alix Macfarlane. London: Methuen, 1962.

Source: http://antiquities.bibalex.org/Collection/Detail.aspx?collection=38&a=591&lang=en#

Photocredit: BA Antiquities Museum/C. Gerigk