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Mytological Animals

MYTOLOGICAL ANIMALS

5,176 photos
Stele of the Serpent King, around 3000 BCE, 1st dynasty, Thinite period found in the Serpent King's tomb in Abydos. Detail.For overall see 08-01-22/25 Sandstone, 143 x 65 x 25 cm E 11007
#03010126

Stele of the Serpent King, around 3000 BCE, 1st dynasty, Thinite pe...

Apotropaic wand, acting to ward off the dangers of childbirth and early infancy, various evil spirits, and invoking the protection of deities to protect the vulnerable. Made of hippopotamus ivory;protective images include Bes, a pregnant hippopotamus carrying a knife, lions, scarabs and other protective demons. EA,18175
#03010140

Apotropaic wand, acting to ward off the dangers of childbirth and early infancy...

Fowling in the marshes; fragment of a wallpainting from the tomb of Nebamun,Thebes. 18th dynasty,around 1350 BCE. Nebamun stands on a small papyrus boat,with his wife Hatshepsut behind and his son below him. He lets fly a throwstick into a mass of birds above a papyrus thicket. Despite his modest title of "scribe and counter of grain" Nebamun could afford an expensive tomb. EA,37977
#03010149

Fowling in the marshes; fragment of a wallpainting from the tomb of Nebamun,The...

Counting the geese: mural from the tomb of Nebamun,from Thebes, 18th dynasty, around 1350 BCE. In the lower register a scribe holds up a papyrus scroll, presumably a census of Nebamun's geese; his writing tablet is tucked under his arm; behind the scribe a man brings a group of geese in a cage, and behind him is a large flock of geese. Scenes of watching agricultural activities were intended to convey the importance of the owner of the tomb. EA,37978
#03010150

Counting the geese: mural from the tomb of Nebamun,from Thebes, 18th dynasty, a...

Head of the cow Hathor, 18th dynasty, around 1450 BCE.The cult statue of Hathor originally had horns and wore a feather headdress, both probably gilded. The eyes were inlaid with rock crystal and lapis lazuli; the colour white was associated with sacredness and purity. From the shrine of Hathor at Deir el-Bahri.Hatshepsut's self-proclaimed divine birth and Hathor's role as a fertility goddess meant that many women left offerings at the shrine in the hope of conceiving a child. EA, 42179
#03010155

Head of the cow Hathor, 18th dynasty, around 1450 BCE.The cult statue of Hathor...

Fragment of the beard of the Great Spinx (New Kingdom, 14th BCE?). Part of the plaited, "divine" type of beard, depicted on gods and the dead, rather than kings and the living. The beard was probably added during restoration work in the 18th dynasty (1550-1295 Mill.BCE) and fell off in antiquity. EA, 58
#03010156

Fragment of the beard of the Great Spinx (New Kingdom, 14th BCE?). Part of the...

Mummy of a cat, from Abydos, Upper Egypt Roman period, perhaps 1st century. Animals associated with deities were redularly mummified in later periods. The main concentration of cat burials was at sites with an association with a feline deity.It seems likely that a cult was made periodically in the temple catteries to provide subjects for mummification and sale to the pious. The purchase and burial of an animal mummy in a specially designed catacomb was seen as a pious act towards the deity represented by the animal. EA, 37348
#03010212

Mummy of a cat, from Abydos, Upper Egypt Roman period, perhaps 1st century. Ani...

Terracotta figurine of a woman riding on a pig, Hellenistic, Egypt, 1st BCE. It shows a large pig, bearing on its back a fat woman riding side-saddle, naked apart from the tall headdress and the long veil that covers it. This object is a calathus, a measuring vessel for corn and the stele or shrine in her left arm shows that she may be linked to Demeter, goddess of corn and fertility. GR, 1926.9-30.48
#03010215

Terracotta figurine of a woman riding on a pig, Hellenistic, Egypt, 1st BCE. It...

Bronze oil-lamps with a leaping ibex, from ancient South Arabia, probably 5th-4th BCE. Several bronze oil lamps have been discovered that are decorated with an ibex, a popular decorative motif of the region. See also 08-02-12/67, 08-02-16/9, 08-050-8/52. The animal has a hole through the right foreleg, which maz\y have been used to suspend an object. ANE, 139621
#03010216

Bronze oil-lamps with a leaping ibex, from ancient South Arabia, probably 5th-4t...

Calcite relief with the head of an oryx, Sabaean, from Yemen, 1st BCE - 1st CE. During the later part of the first millenium BCE and into the Roman period a prosperous civilization, based largely upon trade in incense, grew up in the area of modern Yemen. ANE, 135307
#03010218

Calcite relief with the head of an oryx, Sabaean, from Yemen, 1st BCE - 1st CE....

Sphinx with proto-Sinaitic inscriptions, from Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai, Middle Kingdom, around 1800 BCE. The semi-precious stone turquoise was extracted here from the Middle Kingdom onwards. Hathor, the goddess associated with turquoise, is named in the hieroglyphic inscription on the right shoulder. The proto-sinaitic inscription includes a similar name, the inscriptions are therefore bilingial, like the Rosetta stone. EA 41748
#03010220

Sphinx with proto-Sinaitic inscriptions, from Serabit el-Khadim, Sinai, Middle K...

Coffin for a mummified cat, Egypt, Roman Period, after 30 BC. This example has a green painted head and a white body. The coffin shape reproduces the external appearance of the cat squatting on its haunches. The cat was closely associated with the goddess Bastet and many mummified examples have been found in cemeteries at Bubastis in the Delta, the goddess' main cult centre. The mummies were sometimes placed inside coffins made of wood or bronze. Two main species of cats are known from ancient Egypt, the swamp or jungle cat (Felis chaus) and the African wild cat (Felis silvestris libyca). Mummies of both species were made during the first millennium BC, though the majority of examples identified so far have been African wild cats EA, 22753
#03010221

Coffin for a mummified cat, Egypt, Roman Period, after 30 BC. This example has a...