Schilbe fish, sacred to Hatmehyt, on standard

Schilbe fish, sacred to Hatmehyt, on standard

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The schlibe fish was illustrated atop the standard of the nome of Mendes in the eastern Delta since earliest times. It was very closely associated with the local goddess Hatmehyt , whose name in fact means "Foremost of the Fishes" and who wore the schilbe atop her crown and hanging down her back (89.2.517). Hatmehyt was the only Egyptian god(dess) associated so closely with a fish, and this certainly has to do with the importance of the swampy damp environment of the area.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Schilbe fish, sacred to Hatmehyt, on standardSchilbe fish, sacred to Hatmehyt, on standardSchilbe fish, sacred to Hatmehyt, on standardSchilbe fish, sacred to Hatmehyt, on standardSchilbe fish, sacred to Hatmehyt, on standard

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.