Model tambourine with rosette border, Bastet on one side, her boat with naos on the other
Third Intermediate Period
Faience model tambourines such as this one were festival offerings to Bastet, who, like the other great goddesses, is associated with the myth in which a daughter or quasi-daughter of the god Re had to be lured back to Egypt from self-imposed exile in Nubia. At festivals in Bubastis celebrating Bastet's return, the goddess sailed upon her Isheru, or temple lake, which is the event being illustrated on the model tambourine.
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