Torch-holder

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Torches were used by workers in the catacombs at North Saqqara where mummified ibises were buried. Flammable material would be placed in the cup at the top, and once lit could be carried by the handle. The torch was found with other broken pottery and small material in the fill in a set of small buildings associated with the catacombs. The buildings were used from the time of Nectanebo II onward and so the torch probably dates to the Ptolemaic 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