Lion with the names of Pharaoh Necho II
Late Period
This fine lion with cartouches of the pharaoh Necho II on its shoulders lay atop another figure (now missing), perhaps a human captive, more likely a prey animal. The sculpture may have been pegged to the lid of a box.
Stylistic elements like the curled mane suggest the lion was created in the Near East, and even more specifically point to the Syro-Hittite area. In fact, the piece speaks with remarkable immediacty of a moment in Egyptian history. Between 609 and 605 Necho's Egyptian troops fought at Harran and Carchemish in the Syro-Hittite region alongside the Assyrians against the conquering Neo-Babylonians under Nebuchadrezzar II.
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