Already in the Early Dynastic Period, Egyptians deposited faience figurines of wild animals in temple precincts. These figurines were reintroduced in the Twelfth Dynasty, but as a component of burial equipment and with new species added to the repertoire. The controlled representation of desert animals may have assured the Egyptians of eternal safety, though they also likely had symbolic meanings.
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3/4 right
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left profile
Three mice (from left: 26.7.900, 26.7.901, and 26.7.899)
Three mice (from left: 26.7.900, .899, .901)
Artwork Details
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Title:Jerboa figurine
Period:Middle Kingdom
Dynasty:Dynasty 12–13
Date:ca. 1850–1640 B.C.
Geography:From Egypt; Possibly from Memphite Region, Heliopolis (Iunu; On)
Medium:Faience
Dimensions:L. 5 cm (1 15/16 in.); W. 2.7 cm (1 1/16 in.); H. 3.8 cm (1 1/2 in.)
Credit Line:Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926
Object Number:26.7.900
Purchased by Lord Carnarvon from Maurice Nahman, Cairo. Carnarvon Collection, purchased by Museum from Lady Carnarvon, 1926.
Newberry, Percy E. and H. R. Hall 1922. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Ancient Egyptian Art. London: Burlington Fine Arts Club, p. 92 no. 47 pl. 19.
Phillips, Dorothy W. 1942. Ancient Egyptian Animals, Picture Books (Metropolitan Museum of Art), New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pl. 21.
Hayes, William C. 1953. Scepter of Egypt I: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: From the Earliest Times to the End of the Middle Kingdom. Cambridge, Mass.: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 224.
Arnold, Dorothea 1995. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, new ser., vol. 52, no. 4 (Spring), New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 21, no. 18.
Arnold, Dorothea 2010. "Zwei kleine Wüstenspringmäuse." In Falken, Katzen, Krokodile: Tiere im Alten Ägypten: Aus den Sammlungen des Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, und des Ägyptischen Museums Kairo, edited by Dorothea Arnold. Zurich: Museum Rietberg, p. 37, no. 21.
Patch, Diana Craig 2015. "Three Jerboas Grooming Their Tails." In Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom, edited by Adela Oppenheim, Dorothea Arnold, Dieter Arnold, and Kei Yamamoto. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 208–10, no. 145.
Yamamoto, Kei 2015. "Comprehending Life: Community, Environment, and the Supernatural." In Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom, edited by Adela Oppenheim, Dorothea Arnold, Dieter Arnold, and Kei Yamamoto. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 190.
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The Met's collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 26,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from the Paleolithic to the Roman period.
