Magical Container in the Shape of a Hippopotamus Deity

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The hybrid hippopotamus goddess that is known as Taweret or Ipet functions here as magical jar. As usual she stands upright and is shown as a fusion of a hippopotamus, lion, crocodile, and human. The cavity inside the figure was accessible through a small rounded lid at the very top. Three openings that are situated between her teeth, at the back of her head, and at the lid might have functioned to insert a wire that depicted a tongue or snake protruding from her mouth. At the same time this wire could have secured the lid. On the underside of the base is a design that shows convoluted coils and that is known from seals. Intertwined coils, loops, and knots were all magically powerful objects that were connected to protection and the creation of life. The hippopotamus goddess protected women in childbirth and it is possible that a small magic papyrus, maybe a spell for mother and child, was stored in this jar. The container might additionally have been used as part of a magical act when the spell was recited, evoking the protective goddess that is represented here and possibly using the jar’s underside to press its magically powerful design onto the pregnant woman or infant.

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