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<em>Snake Coffin</em>, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth,er), 36.624_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg)
Snake Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth,er), 36.624_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg)
<em>Snake Coffin</em>, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth,er), 36.624_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg)

Snake Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth,er), 36.624_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg)

<em>Snake Coffin</em>, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view1.jpg)

Snake Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view1.jpg)

<em>Snake Coffin</em>, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view1_wwgA-1.jpg)

Snake Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view1_wwgA-1.jpg)

<em>Snake Coffin</em>, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.624_print_bw_SL1.jpg)

Snake Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.624_print_bw_SL1.jpg)

<em>Snake Coffin</em>, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view2.jpg)

Snake Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view2.jpg)

<em>Snake Coffin</em>, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view3.jpg)

Snake Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view3.jpg)

<em>Snake Coffin</em>, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view2_wwgA-1.jpg)

Snake Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.624_view2_wwgA-1.jpg)

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Snake Coffin

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

A cobra with a man’s head represented the creator god Atum. This deity swam in the primeval waters that existed before the earth came into being. He was therefore associated with the creation of the world, which in Egyptian thought reoccurred every day.
MEDIUM Bronze
  • Place Made: Egypt
    • DATES 664–30 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 26, or later
    PERIOD Late Period to Ptolemaic Period
    DIMENSIONS 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 36.624
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Oblong bronze receptacle, probably for mummified reptile, surmounted by long uraeus serpent with human head. Uraeus and double crown on head, incised details. No inscription but snake is undoubtedly a representation of Atum. Condition: Good. Apparently it has been assembled from two pieces for there is a repair at about the center, ancient (?). The end of the base is missing.
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Snake Coffin, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth,er), 36.624_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 36.624_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph (Gavin Ashworth, photographer), 2012
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
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    <em>Snake Coffin</em>, 664–30 B.C.E. Bronze, 5 3/4 x 1 7/8 x 22 in. (14.6 x 4.8 x 55.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.624. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth,er), 36.624_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg)

    TAGS

    Egyptian
    Atum as a Human-Headed Cobra
    atum
    human
    head
    human-head
    cobra
    snake
    bronze
    cast
    casting
    Late Period-Ptolemaic Period
    ca. 664-30 B.C.E.
    Egypt

    TAGS

    Egyptian
    Atum as a Human-Headed Cobra
    atum
    human
    head
    human-head
    cobra
    snake
    bronze
    cast
    casting
    Late Period-Ptolemaic Period
    ca. 664-30 B.C.E.
    Egypt

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