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This tiny Egyptian statue was created to house the spirit of a god

"This piece spoke to me when I realized, you don't need a single written word, three thousand years later, we can understand the same language."

"This piece spoke to me when I realized, you don't need a single written word, three thousand years later, we can understand the same language."

Curator Diana Craig Patch on the statuette "Cult Image of the God Ptah."

Explore this object:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/549169

Throughout 2013, The Met invited curators from across the Museum to each talk about one artwork that changed the way they see the world.

Photography by Karin L. Willis

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Contributors

Diana Craig Patch
Lila Acheson Wallace Curator in Charge, Department of Egyptian Art

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Cult Image of the God Ptah, Lapis lazuli
ca. 945–600 B.C.