ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Cippus

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Period, early - mid Dynasty 26

Date664-589 BCE

MediumActinolite

Credit LineMohamed Farid Khamis/Oriental Weavers Fund

Dimensions4 x 3 1/8 x 1 in. (10.2 x 7.9 x 2.5 cm)

Object number2004.067.001

Label TextBelonging to Horudja, son of Wahibrenakht, this small stela is a form particularly popular during the Late and Ptolemaic Periods. Known as a cippus, it served both protective and curative purposes. The stela depicts the god Harpocrates (Horus-the-child), naked, with the soft, fleshy body and sidelock of a youth. The god defends against dangerous animals-standing upon two crocodiles, he has subdued a lion, oryx, scorpion, and snakes, which he grasps in his hands.

According to one Egyptian myth, young Horus was killed by a scorpion and revived by Thoth. The images and spells carved on the stela impart that divine healing power to those similarly afflicted. The Egyptians believed strongly in the potency of the spoken and written word. Reciting the prayers incised on the stela and drinking water poured over its surface activated its magical properties.
Exhibition HistoryFrom Pharaohs to Emperors: New Egyptian and Classical Antiquities at Emory, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 2, 2006
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, 2006 - March 13, 2018
MCCM Permanent Collection Gallery, June 4, 2018 - Present
Published ReferencesChristie's London: Fine Antiquities (13 December 1988), 38, lot 275.
Antiqua: Ancient Art & Numismatics, Catalogue II (1995), 24, 28-29, number 58.

ProvenanceWith Christie's London, December 13, 1988, lot 275. Ex private collection, Netherlands, purchased from Sotheby's, early 1990s. With Antiqua, Ltd., Woodland Hills, California, 1995. Purchased by MCCM from Sue McGovern-Huffman [Sands of Time Antiquities], Washington DC.

Status

On view

Collections