Statuette of Wadjet in the name of Akanosh son of Pediamenopet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Statuary and equipment in bronze and precious metals have long associations with temple cult and ritual. While the king traditionally made such gifts in his role as mediator between the gods and mankind, by the Third Intermediate Period much of the divine statuary in temples originated from nonroyal gifts, and great numbers of divine statuettes were inscribed with prayers for their donors’ eternal life. Evidence from a slightly later period indicates that such consecration of temple items for the benefit of a given individual was associated with their having provided some form of economic support for the temple or temple personnel. Lioness headed Wadjet is inscribed with the name of a donor Akanosh, a Libyan name, although the statue may date later than the Third Intermediate Period.

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