Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Apotropaic Wand
Middle Kingdom
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.
Apotropaic wands are typical Middle Kingdom objects decorated with creatures that offered protection at birth and rebirth. The convex side of this example is incised with a series of guardian figures, including Aha holding snakes (frontal male with a lion’s mane and ears), Hesem (a lion), Reret dominating foreign prisoners (a hippopotamus-crocodile hybrid), a griffin, and a long-necked feline. On the flatter underside, an inscription offers protection to the lady Merisenebes.
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