Statue of lion-headed Wadjet inscribed for Minirdis, son of Panehsy and of Aarwt(?) whose parents are Horwedja and Nitocris

Late Period, Saite Period

664–525 BCE

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 899

The goddess Wadjet and her very ancient city of Buto (known as the cities of Pe and Dep) are from earliest times mythic reference points for the emergence of a unified Egyptian kingship. Wadjet might take cobra form, the form she wears as the uraeus on the king’s brow. But she was also an Eye of Re goddess, a female relative of the sun god who acted as his emissary/enforcer, and, like other Eye of Re goddesses, she generally adopted the form of a lioness as she does in this statue. And, perhaps influenced by the proximity of Buto to the marshes where Isis hid her young vulnerable son Horus after the death of his father Osiris, Wadjet was regarded as another protectress of Horus, who, of course, grew up to ascend the throne.

In the Late Period, impressively large metal statues of Wedjat as a lion-headed goddess, such as this one, and of Horus, the latter in either lion-headed or falcon-headed form, constitute a special group that evoke the legends of early kingship and the original primacy of Buto through symbols and vignettes on the sides of their thrones. The latter are unfortunately very damaged on this statue.

A recent study has illuminated the origin of this group and its meaning. Examples with a known provenance actually originate in Sais, and for a number of reasons it seems likely that all originate in Sais rather than Buto. In fact, Buto was quite near Sais, the dynastic seat of the 26th Dynasty. Apparently, the Buto gods had an important role and cult at Sais: it seems the Buto legends were understood as mythic precursors for the struggles and then ascendancy of the Saite dynasty in the Delta after the Third Intermediate Period.

The statue is inscribed with a request that Wadjet give life and health to the donor Minirdis, son of Pahnesy and Aarwt, whose (Aarwt's) parents were Horwedja and Nitocris.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

References

Title: Statue of lion-headed Wadjet inscribed for Minirdis, son of Panehsy and of Aarwt(?) whose parents are Horwedja and Nitocris
Period: Late Period, Saite Period
Dynasty: Dynasty 26
Date: 664–525 BCE
Geography: From Egypt; Probably from Lower Egypt, Sais (Sa el-Hagar)
Medium: Leaded bronze
Dimensions: H. 62.9 × W. 17.5 × D. 39 cm, 26.1 kg (24 3/4 × 6 7/8 × 15 3/8 in., 57.6 lb.)
Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
Object Number: 30.8.100
Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

Audio

609. Wadjet the Lioness

How did depictions of Wadjet evolve over time?

0:00

NARRATOR: Take a moment to study this lion-headed goddess. On her forehead is a large uraeus: a rearing cobra symbolizing royalty and divine authority. Her clenched hands likely once held an ankh and a scepter, both now lost. This is the goddess Wadjet.

Research associate Brendan Hainline:

BRENDAN HAINLINE: Wadjet is typically depicted as a cobra, and as a cobra, Wadjet was the goddess of Lower Egypt.

But in the late period, in the delta, she started being shown as a lion-headed goddess. In fact, a number of deities who weren’t traditionally shown as lion-headed started to be shown as lion-headed in the late period.

NARRATOR: We don’t know why. Felines had been associated with divinity throughout Egyptian history, venerated for qualities like agility, fertility, ferocity, and motherly care.

HAINLINE: Maybe Wadjet as a lion-headed deity is taking on more of those maternal roles; lionesses are very fierce, protective mothers…

NARRATOR: But it’s impossible to know for sure.

HAINLINE: There’s levels and there’s layers to these representations that we can try and get at, but without the cultural knowledge that Egyptians shared, it’s very difficult for us to say why exactly, with certainty, a deity is represented in the way that they are.

I think that we need to constantly remind ourselves that we are looking at over 3000 years of history. And ideas change.

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