Ibex

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This ibex lifts its head proudly on an upright neck. Both forelegs are bent backward and the body rests gracefully on the left haunch. Despite the small size of the figure, the artist has conveyed the uneven weight distribution with remarkable accuracy. The animal's body is curved, and the left hindleg has disappeared under the haunch. This pose was used for the large ram sculptures that King Amenhotep III dedicated to the god Amun-Re at his temple of Soleb, Upper Nubia. The strong influence such large sculptures exerted on the minor arts is reflected in the small figures of this ibex. This piece has two vertical holes in the bottom and two horizontal holes in the front and rear. It may have decorated an elaborate perfume vessel, in which case it would have been attached by pegs or tubes protruding from the underside and by pieces of wire securing it front and back.

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