Polymorphic deity

Late Period–Ptolemaic Period

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 134

Polymorphic deities combine a given deity's form with often animal elements from other deities. Here the dwarf-like body of Pataikos is combined with a ram's head and has a falcon's back.

The proliferation of representations of polymorphic deities, is a phenomenon of the first millennium. The meaning of the conjoined forms is not settled, but they are positive figures.

Polymorphic deity, Faience

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