Statue of the God Reshef

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The statue depicts a male figure holds a shield while raising a swordlike mace to strike. This menacing pose often characterizes Syro-Palestinian gods in Egyptian art, but the gazelle’s head adorning the white crown suggests it is Reshef. This is the only known stone statue of Reshef to date, who otherwise mostly appears on seals, scarabs, and stelae. Egypt also saw the introduction of west-Semitic deities into its pantheon during the New Kingdom, when it sent armies into Syro-Palestinian and held garrisons there. Once Egypt’s presence in these areas, the prevalence of these gods in Egypt also subsided. Stylistically, this statue was probably produced later in New Kingdom or early in the first millennium B.C., suggesting Reshef was still of significance then.

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