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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.

Pectoral with Birds Flanking an Ukh Symbol

Middle Kingdom

ca. 1981-1802 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.

Pectorals with symmetrical designs, which seem to have arisen in the mid-Twelfth Dynasty, belonged to members of the elite as well as the royal family. At the center of this pectoral is an ukh fetish sacred to the goddess Hathor. It is flanked by two birds that sit on hieroglyphs signifying gold. The precise meaning of this combination of elements is uncertain.

Pectoral with Birds Flanking an Ukh Symbol, Carnelian, gold, lapis lazuli, etc. — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Pectoral with Birds Flanking an Ukh Symbol

Period: Middle Kingdom

Dynasty: Dynasty 12

Date: ca. 1981-1802 B.C.

Geography: From Egypt, Fayum Entrance Area, el-Riqqa, cemetery A, tomb 124

Medium: Carnelian, gold, lapis lazuli, etc.

Dimensions: 1 9/16 × 1 5/8 in. (3.9 × 4.2 cm)

Credit Line: The Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester

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.