Date:
Ancient Egyptian period, Late Period (664-332 BCE)
Provenance:
Upper Egypt, Giza, Saqqara
Material(s):
- Non-organic material, alloy, bronze
- Organic material, wood
Height:
16 cm;
Width:
21 cm;
Depth:
7 cm
Hall:
Ancient Egyptian Antiquities, showcase 1
Description
A group representing Thoth as an ibis standing before the goddess Maat who is squatting on a chair, flanked by two other small ibises. The upper part of the tripartite head-dress of the goddess has a hole in which was probably fixed the ostrich feather, her symbol.
Thoth and Maat
By the Middle Kingdom, Thoth was connected with Maat, the personification of rightness and world order. Coffin texts, dating back to the same period, associate him with divine justice. Instructions and other tales regularly use Thoth as a metaphor for justice and, in funerary autobiographies, officials demonstrate their impartiality by claiming to be “truly precise as Thoth”. Furthermore, New Kingdom didactic literature, such as the Instructions of Amenemope, also refers to Thoth as a symbol of justice.
Bronze
Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin was used by the Egyptians as early as the 2nd dynasty. However, the use of this metal did not expend until the Middle Kingdom. Bronze has the advantage of being harder and stronger than pure copper. The addition of tin also reduces shrinkage, lowers the firing temperature and increases fluidity.
The information given here is subject to modification/update as a result of ongoing research.
References
- Denise M. Doxey, “Thot”, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, edited by Donald B. Redford, vol. 3 (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001): 398-400.
- Yvonne J. Markowitz and Peter Lacovara, “Bronze”, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, edited by Donald B. Redford, vol. 1 (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001): 200-202.
- Mona Serry, ed., Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Antiquities Museum, introduction by Ismail Serageldin (Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Antiquities Museum, 2015): 61, 315.