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Menat of Taharqo: the King Being Nursed by the Lion-Headed Goddess Bastet, Faience

Menat of Taharqo: the King Being Nursed by the Lion-Headed Goddess Bastet

Period:
Late Period, Kushite
Dynasty:
Dynasty 25
Reign:
reign of Taharqo
Date:
690–664 B.C.
Geography:
Possibly from Nubia; From Egypt and Sudan
Medium:
Faience
Dimensions:
h. 9.5 cm (3 3/4 in); w. 4.4 cm (1 3/4 in); th. 0.8 cm (5/16 in)
Credit Line:
Bequest of W. Gedney Beatty, 1941
Accession Number:
41.160.104
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 125
This menat, or necklace counterpose, is decorated with a relief scene showing King Taharqo as a child nursed by a the goddess Bastet, implying his divine status. The delicate faience material indicates the menat was not meant for use as part of a menat necklace shaken in temple ceremonies, but rather might have been a temple donation or possibly intended for the pharaoh's burial.
Bequeathed to the museum by W. Gedney Beatty, 1941. Previously on loan to the museum by Mr. Beatty from 1929. Previously collection of Sir John Grenfell Maxwell, London, sold at Sotheby's 1928.

Jansen-Winkeln, Karl 2009. Inschriften der Spätzeit, Teil III: Die 25. Dynastie. Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 187, cat. no. 48.114.

Timelines
Sudan, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.

Egyptian Art (27,197)
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