Box for a Mummified Animal with Snake Figure
Late Period–Ptolemaic Period (664–30 BCE)
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 4.1 × 5 × 8.1 cm (1 5/8 × 2 × 3 3/16 in.)
- Culture
- Egypt
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Purchased with funds provided by Charles L. Hutchinson and Henry H. Getty
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
A snake lies coiled in a figure-eight shape on top of this empty box designed to hold a mummified animal. Ancient Egyptians presented objects like this in temples as votive gifts to gods and goddesses, tailoring the enclosed mummified animal to one that had a specific connection with the deity whose favor was sought. Such a gift in a sacred space could help ensure that the prayer would be received. The hieroglyphic inscription on the front of this box names the worshiper who dedicated it and invokes Atum, a creator god whom the ancient Egyptians sometimes depicted in the form of a snake.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
