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Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

Fish Pendant

Middle Kingdom

ca. 1878-1749 B.C.

Not on view

This object is not part of The Met collection. It was in the Museum for a special exhibition and has been returned to the lender.

This pendant takes the form of an "upside-down catfish," a species that regularly swims belly-up and thus resembles a dead fish. Ancient Egyptians perhaps associated this type of catfish with powers of regeneration. This splendid example was found in a child’s coffin, along with four other fish pendants and silver cowrie shells, presumably from a girdle.

Fish Pendant, Gold over a core of unknown material — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Fish Pendant

Period: Middle Kingdom

Dynasty: Late Dynasty 12-early Dynasty 13

Date: ca. 1878-1749 B.C.

Geography: From Egypt, Haraga, Cemetery A, Tomb 72

Medium: Gold over a core of unknown material

Dimensions: L. 3.9 cm (1 9/16 in.); H. 1.6 cm (5/8 in.)

Credit Line: On loan courtesy of National Museums Scotland

The Met

Egyptian Art at The Met

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.