Apotropaic Wand
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.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.
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.
Artwork Details
- Title: Apotropaic Wand
- Period: Middle Kingdom
- Date: ca. 2030-1640 B.C.
- Geography: From Egypt
- Medium: Hippopotamus Tusk
- Dimensions: 6 5/16 × 2 3/8 × 3/8 in. (16.1 × 6 × 0.9 cm)
- Credit Line: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926 (26.7.1288a, b); and Paris, Louvre Museum, Departement des Antiquités égyptiennes (E 3614)
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art