Statuette of an animal symbolizing Re
Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
Not on view
During the Late Period and Ptolemaic times mongooses were represented in bronze statuettes such as this one, standing, forepaws raised, atop small bronze boxes. The pose of raised paws signifies the animal's adoration of the sun god when he rises in the morning. Some scholars have identified these animals as otters rather than mongooses.
In myth, mongooses were particularly attached to the goddess of Lower Egypt Wadjet, whose cult was centered in Buto, in the northern Delta.
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