© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Relief Wadjit and Nekhbet

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Period - early Ptolemaic Period

Date722-180 BCE

MediumLimestone

Credit LineEgyptian Purchase Fund

Dimensions10 1/2 x 44 in. (26.7 x 111.8 cm)

Object number2013.022.001A/B

Label TextThese relief fragments were once part of the upper part of a temple wall, signified by the row of stars at the top. The fragment to the left depicts the tutelary goddesses of Egypt, also called the 'Two Ladies'. Wadjit, the winged cobra, wears the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, and Nekhbet, the vulture goddess, wears the White Crown of Upper Egypt. Their names are written beside them. Between the goddesses, the text mentions that they bestow life. The other fragment preserves the top of two cartouches, crowned with plumed solar discs. They once contained the names of the king who built the temple. Read together, these relief fragments symbolize a unified Egypt by the king who is protected by the 'Two Ladies'.
Exhibition HistoryAfrican Cosmos: Stellar Arts, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 31 - June 21, 2015
Published ReferencesRoyal-Athena Galleries, Art of the Ancient World Volume XIII (2002), 57, number 153.
Royal-Athena Galleries, Art of the Ancient World Volume XXIV (2013), 64-65, number 176.

ProvenanceSaid to be ex private collection, United States, acquired in Washington, DC, 2001. Purchased by MCCM from Jerome Eisenberg (1930-2022) [Royal-Athena Galleries], New York, New York.

Status

Not on view

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