Taweret

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The goddess Taweret has the body of a standing pregnant hippopotamus, the limbs and paws of a lion, and the tail of a crocodile down her back, characteristics fitting her fierce protectiveness in the aid of the vulnerable. The stone of this example is quite possibly hematite which was popular for certain amulets including Taweret in the late periods. Because the stone is quite hard, the forms are very simplified - the crocodile tail is only indicated by seams at the sides along the length of her figure below her wig, her crown base (modius) is reduced to a kind of domed cap, and her paws are paraticularly undefined. A hole pierces the statuette from side to side behind her head.

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