Standing Hippopotamus

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Among the faience animals found in Middle Kingdom tombs, the best known is undoubtedly the hippopotamus, rendered in a variety of poses that represent this fearsome animal in its natural state, and decorated with images of the plants and animals found in its marshy habitat. This small faience hippopotamus was found in the wrappings of Renisnenb's mummy at the small of the back. Also in the wrappings were a mirror (26.7.1351), a necklace (26.7.1349), and a shen amulet (26.7.1347).

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