Shrine box, lizard

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The lizard in later periods of Egyptian history was linked with the creator and solar god Atum, in large part because of their reptilian tendency to warm themselves in the sunshine. Almost all copper alloy representations, like this one, show the lizards prone, with legs slightly splayed, as if basking in the sun’s rays. Most rest on top of boxes that would have held mummified lizards. On this example, the box is open at the back for the insertion of one or more mummies. These boxes would have been offered in temples or for deposition in animal necropoleis, not just in honor of Atum, but also in broad connection with other animal representations linked to solar cult, such as shrew mice, ichneumons, or falcons.

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