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Recumbent Lion

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Recumbent Lion

Period:
Old Kingdom
Dynasty:
early dynasty 4–5
Date:
ca. 2575–2450 B.C.
Geography:
Country of Origin Egypt, Fayum Entrance Area, Herakleopolis (Ihnasya el-Medina, Ehnasya)
Medium:
Granite
Dimensions:
L. 201 cm (79 1/8 in); w. 73 cm (28 3/4 in); h. 87 cm (34 1/4 in)
Credit Line:
Purchase, Anonymous Gift, in honor of Annette de la Renta; Annette de la Renta Gift; and Anne and John V. Hansen Egyptian Purchase Fund, 2000
Accession Number:
2000.485

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 100

  • Description

    This imposing lion figure must once have guarded the entrance to a pyramid-age sanctuary. As the most powerful predator of the steppe bordering the Nile valley the lion was a symbol of royalty from early on. The animal–especially the female–also embodied a number of deities. This sculpture is the earliest extant example of monumental size that has been preserved almost in its entirety. It was excavated by the British Egypt Exploration Fund in 1891 at Herakleopolis Magna, southeast of the Fayum oasis.

  • Provenance

    Excavated at Ihnasya el-Medina (ancient Herakleopolis Magna) by Édouard F. Naville for the Egypt Exploration Fund, 1891; McLean Museum and Art Gallery, Greenock, Scotland, 1891; Samuel Josefowitz, Lausanne, Switzerland, ca. 1966; [Robert Haber, New York]. Published in the MMA Bulletin, Fall 2002.

  • See also
    What
    Where
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    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
100006632

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