Statuette of a child god

Statuette of a child god

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The figure represents a child god in a standing/striding position, wearing a cap and uraeus. Incised circles decorate the cap and a streamer falls from its bottom edge down the back of the neck. The child god is distinguished from adult gods by a range of iconographic clues: his nudity, the finger raised to the mouth (a child-like gesture), and the thick sidelock on the right side of his head. An amulet hangs on the chest, a common feature for child gods. Meanwhile, his plump, well-fed belly showcases his ability to bring about prosperity and abundance. The base had an inscription, but it is now eroded and illegible. Child gods grew in popularity and cult from the Third Intermediate Period onwards, rivaling even the most powerful and ancient gods, especially as temple offerings. The best known is Horus the Child (Harpokrates), who was the son of Isis and Osiris, but many others existed, including Khonsu the Child, Ihy, and Harsiese, among others. Thus it is difficult to assign a precise identity to this statuette without an associated inscription.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Statuette of a child godStatuette of a child godStatuette of a child godStatuette of a child godStatuette of a child god

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.