Baboon Cup
100 BCE-300 CE (Meroitic Period)
Egypt, Lower Nubia, Karanog
Ceramic, Paint
“In ancient Egypt, baboons were associated with the god Thoth. They also had a connection to the rising sun. The baboon depicted on this cup holds a triangular object that resembles the ancient Egyptian word for ‘gift.’”
On display at Penn Museum E8463
Happy #WorldCrocDay !
Crocodile Pendant Egypt, Middle Kingdom, 1980-1760 BCE Carnelian, 5/16 x 7/8 in. (0.8 x 2.2 cm) Michael C. Carlos Museum 2007.006.001
Gazelle Palette
Egypt, Predynastic Period, Nagada II, 3650-3300 BCE
Siltstone, H 8.6 cm (3 3/8 in.)
on display at RISD Museum 14.489
Ancient Egyptian hippo & hedgehog squad at the Brooklyn Museum!
Standing Hippo
Middle Kingdom 2nd Int. Per. Dyn.12-17 c1938-1539BCE
Faience
“Egyptian artists decorated statuettes of hippos with images of Nile flora & fauna. Common motifs included lotus buds, flowers, marsh grass, lily pads, frogs, waterfowl, & insects. The legs of most statuettes were broken just before burial to ensure that they posed no threat to the tomb owner. Museum conservators restored the legs of many examples, including this one, to show how the statuettes looked when they were made.”
L: Votive(?) Hippos
Middle Kingdom Dyn.11-13 c2008-1630BCE
Painted pottery
“These coarse figures stand on low bases representing sleds or sledges, possibly alluding to a ritual called The Feast of the White Hippo in which a hippo was dragged on a sledge before the king. Worshippers at the festival probably either left these objects as votive offerings or acquired them as keepsakes.”
R: Two Hippos
Middle Kingdom Dyn.12-17 c1938-1539BCE
“The ancient Egyptians often snapped off the legs of hippopotamus statuettes before placing them in tombs, as these two examples show. The broken stumps of the smaller statuette's legs demonstrate how bright-blue glaze adhered to the white faience. The larger figure's snout, perhaps also broken in antiquity, has been restored.”
L. Hedgehog Rattle
Middle Kingdom Dyn. 12-13 c1938-1630BCE
Faience, 7.6 x 4.4 x 3.5 cm
“The hollow body of this hedgehog figure contains tiny pellets that rattled when it was shaken. The rattles were used to ward off harmful forces such as snakes, scorpions, or malevolent spirits. When attacked, a hedgehog rolls into a ball, presenting a mass of pointed spines to the predator. To the Egyptians, this behavior-_imitated in this figure-made the hedgehog an ideal protective symbol.”
R. Hedgehog Figurine
Middle Kingdom Dyn. 12-13 c1938-1630BCE
Faience, 4.2 x 4.1 x 7.1 cm
“When food is scarce, hedgehogs retreat into underground dens for long periods, to re-emerge only in times of abundance.
The Egyptians associated this behavior with rebirth and thus wore amulets in the form of hedgehogs or left figures such as this one in tombs. Also, according to the Ebers Medical Papyrus of the early Eighteenth Dynasty, hedgehog spines, when ground up and mixed with fat or oil, cured baldness.”
(note: labels are reversed - rattle is on L & figurine on R)
#TwoForTuesday:
Statuettes of Oxen Egypt, Middle Kingdom, Dynasties 11-12, 2040-1801 BCE Polychromed wood Virginia Museum of Fine Arts collection
More #WorldFrogDay accessories: 🐸💍
Two carnelian frog rings from New Kingdom Egypt, with a stylized Hathor head incised on bottom of each. (In later dynasties, Hathor assumed Heqet's role as a goddess of fertility and childbirth.)
1. Finger Ring with Frog Egyptian, c. 1550-1295 BCE (New Kingdom, 18th dynasty) gold, carnelian H: 15/16 x W: 13/16 x D: 1/4 in. (2.4 x 2 x 0.6 cm); Bezel H: 1/4 x W: 3/8 x D: 1/4 in. (0.6 x 0.9 x 0.6 cm); Inner Diam: 7/16 in. (1.05 cm) "A tiny carnelian frog with incised details serves as a swiveling bezel for a typical Egyptian seal ring. Carved into the base is a stylized head of a goddess, possibly Hathor." The Walters Art Museum
2. Finger Ring with a Frog Egyptian, 1550-1279 BCE (New Kingdom, 18th-early 19th dynasty) carnelian, gold lining H: 15/16 x W: 13/16 x D: 1/4 in. (2.4 x 2 x 0.7 cm); Bezel W: 1/16 in. (0.17 cm); Inner Diam.: 5/16 in. (0.83 cm); Outer Diam.: 1/2 in. (1.34 cm) "This finger ring displays the small figure of a frog squatting on top of the bezel. The frog is well carved with incised details. The stylized head of Hathor is incised on the bottom of the bezel. The gold lining is probably modern. The image of a frog symbolizes fecundity and fertility, and rings with frog figures were worn by women particularly during the New Kingdom." The Walters Art Museum
#WorldFrogDay: in ancient Egypt, frog spawns were timed with the annual flooding of the Nile, making them fitting animal avatars of Heqet, a goddess of fertility, birth & rebirth.
Collection of eight frog amulets from New Kingdom to Late Period Egypt, c. 1550-332 BCE, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
NK = New Kingdom; LP = Late Period; D = Dynasty
Top row:
NK, D18, c. 1550–1295 BCE, bronze or copper alloy (might be a weight), 1.8x3.4x2.6cm
LP, D26–30, 664–332 BCE, lapis lazuli, 2.5x2.1x2.7cm
LP, D26–29, 664–380 BCE, chlorite, 1.9x3.5cm
LP, D26–29, 664–380 BCE, faience, 1.7x2.2cm
Bottom row:
NK, Ramesside, D 19, c. 1295–1185 BCE, porphyry, 1.2cm
NK, D18–20, c. 1550–1070 BCE, faience, 1.1x1.5x1.1cm
NK, Ramesside, D19–20, c. 1295–1070 BCE, serpentinite, 0.9x1.2cm
LP, D26–29, 664–380 BCE, faience, 0.7x1.1x0.8cm
For #Caturday: Samir Rafi (Egyptian, 1926-2004), Les Gardiens de la Nuit (The Guardians of the Night), 1944.
"In this work, three sinister kitties sit alert, perched on a high city rooftop, claws at the ready, you can almost hear them hiss. They are joined by an equally menacing pigeon, as they glare intently at lookers-on.
Born in Cairo, Samir Rafi (1926-2004) was a painter, sculptor, arts educator and author. A leading surrealist artist, Rafi painted expressive depictions of human anxieties and the trials of life in Egypt. He depicted many animals in his work (cats show up more than once) as well as people and objects, portrayed in saturated colours and a distinctive style that was all his own. One of his earlier works, he painted The Guardians of the Night a year after he graduated from highschool (in 1943) and earned a gold medal from the Ministry of Public Instruction for being the best drawing student nation-wide. At the time, Rafi was one year into studying at the Decorative Arts department of the Egyptian School of Fine Arts, as the protege of Hussein Bicar. He also trained with artist and educator Hussein Youssef Amin and only a year after this painting, participated in an exhibition with the Art and Liberty group, a few months before his nineteenth birthday. Rafi left Egypt in 1945 to pursue his PhD in France, never to return. In 1946, he co-founded the Contemporary Art Group, of which he was a prominent member."
info via "A History of Arab Art Through Cats"
It's #WorldSerpentDay so shoutout to the ancient Egyptian primordial snake god Nehebkau, and specifically, this depiction that's just a snake with human legs 😂
1. detail from papyrus Book of the Dead of Ani, sheet 27 spell 87, 19th Dynasty British Museum
2. detail from wall art in Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Tausert and Setnakht (KV 14), 19th-20th Dynasties Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
