figure
- Description
-
Cast figure (or amuletic figure) of a male deity in copper alloy; depicted as standing and wearing a high headdress; said to be a figure of Neferhotep, but rather depicts Nefertum; ring at back of head, partially broken; corroded.
- Production date
- 620 BC - 200 BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 7.40 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- The identification of the male figure as Neferhotep seems incorrect (on Neferhotep bronze figures: Weiss 2012, 97-98, 544-548, pl. 6c-g, Typ 21, esp. Nr. 102 for this specimen). On the registers of the museum, the figure is described as wearing a high headdress and fitted with a suspension ring at the back of the head. Such description fits also with a representation of the male deity Nefertum. Although we have not seen this piece directly, the photography kindly provided by the Museum of Fine Arts is clear enough to identify the deity as Nefertum.
Several amuletic figures of Nefertum in copper alloy, but as well in stone and glazed composition, were found in Naukratis (Masson forthcoming; on Nefertum bronze figures: Weiss 2012, 105-106, 557-561, pl. 8c- e, Typ 27, esp. Nr. 147 and 151 from Naukratis).
Masson, A. forthcoming, ‘A reflexion on Egyptian metal offerings from Naukratis’, in Heracleion in context: The maritime economy of the Egyptian Late Period, Proceedings of the conference in the University of Oxford, 15-17 March 2013.
Weiss, K. 2012, Ägyptische Tier- und Götterbronzen aus Unterägypten : Untersuchungen zu Typus, Ikonographie und Funktion sowie der Bedeutung innerhalb der Kulturkontakte zu Griechenland, Ägypten und Altes Testament 81.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Rather fair
- Acquisition date
- 1886
- Department
- External
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 86.254 (Accession Number)
-
Miscellaneous number: M.1045 (Metalworks ledger number)
