Ankh, djed, was on neb basket

Ankh, djed, was on neb basket

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The ankh (life), djed (stability), and was (dominion) symbols depicted here on the sign for a heb bowl constitute a powerful combination of wishes that, before the first millennium, were offered by the king to a god or by a god to a king. Large complex inscribed examples of overlaid faience ankh, djed, and was elements from the time of the 25th and early 26th dynasty indicate the symbol is being associated with the Egyptian New Year, and one bears the name off Mentuemhat, the greatest official in the land. Other elaborately carved faience examples may be uninscribed, and this one, though quite simple, was covered in gold. The date of these is uncertain, but they may belong to a continued function of the symbol as a New Year's offering, perhaps presented to a god in a temple. The festival association is strengthened by the fact that the bowl beneath the tall signs is not the standard neb basket but the heb bowl, which is the hieroglyph for festival.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ankh, djed, was on neb basketAnkh, djed, was on neb basketAnkh, djed, was on neb basketAnkh, djed, was on neb basketAnkh, djed, was on neb basket

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.