Ibis

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The ibis was sacred to the god Thoth; this lifesize statue was probably made as a donation for an ibis cemetery at one of his temples; it is particularly close to examples known to be from the site of Hermopolis. The head of the bird is of bronze, and the eyes of crystal or glass. The wooden body was covered with linen, gessoed and painted white, with detailing of darker almost hairlike feathers throughout and massing at the tail.

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