Jackal

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The canine god Wepwawet, associated with Abydos, is depicted here on the bar of a standard. Raised on a pole the standard of Wepwawet was one of the enigmatic symbols carried in front of the king in certain processions throughout Egyptian history. From the Middle Kingdom such standards became associated with Osiris processions. In front of the god is a balloon-like shape whose meaning is not secure, and behind that are two curvilinear forms representing two rearing uraeus cobras.that reinforced the age-old power of the symbolic standard. This small example may have been intended as an accoutrement for a small processional bark.

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