Pectoral with bovine head crowned with disk, horns and feathers
The pectoral belongs to a group that seems to be associated with the sacred Apis bull and the Mother of Apis cow; some of the bovines, although not this one, actually bear the triangular forehead marking of the Apis, although the crown worn is usually associated with a female goddess. A scholar has noted that the association of the frontal image and the structure suggest an event in the life of the Apis or the Mother of Apis. The canopy formed by the uraeus frieze and the Hathor columns resembles the rolling shrine in which the mummy of a deceased Apis is escorted to burial. Alternatively, the structure might represent the appearance of an Apis, led out and displayed for the first time after a new holy animal has been recognized by the priests. Similarly the appearance of the head as part of an aegis - more common among but not restricted to goddesses - might suggest a new Mother of Apis, assimilated to Isis, appearing for veneration at the time a new steer was installed.
Artwork Details
- Title: Pectoral with bovine head crowned with disk, horns and feathers
- Period: Late Period–middle Ptolemaic Period
- Date: 664–200 BCE
- Geography: From Egypt
- Medium: Cupreous metal, carnelian
- Dimensions: H. 14.6 × W. 16 × D. 4 cm (5 3/4 × 6 5/16 × 1 9/16 in.)
- Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1959
- Object Number: 59.83
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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