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Figure of a jackal

Third Intermediate Period
ca. 1070–664 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 126
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
Jackals were closely associated with mummification and the journey of the deceased to the afterlife. The two principal deities depicted in this form are Anubis, the god of embalming, and Wepwawet, who escorted Osiris, and by extension all the dead, into the underworld. Without an inscription, it is not always possible to tell which god a jackal is meant to represent.

This recumbent jackal may once have been on top of a coffin or shrine-shaped funerary box.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Figure of a jackal
  • Period: Third Intermediate Period
  • Date: ca. 1070–664 B.C.
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Wood
  • Dimensions: L. 50.5 × W. 9.5 × H. 19 cm (19 7/8 × 3 3/4 × 7 1/2 in.)
  • Credit Line: On loan from a private collection
  • Object Number: L.2007.4.1
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art