Hedgehog

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This spherical object represents a hedgehog tightly curled in self-defence. The head, feet, and tail are shown in relief. The animal's spines are indicated by black dots. The eyes and the rims of the large ears are also highlighted in black. Before firing, two holes were pierced through the surface at equal distances above and below the relief, but not quite on the axis of the sphere. The holes were probably made simultaneously by one instrument as they are exactly aligned. The hollow ball was most likely formed in two halves, as suggested by the hairline crack along part of the circumference.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art