Head from a Ba-Bird Statue
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Object Label
The ancient Egyptians represented the ba (soul) as a human-headed bird, and the Nubians of the Meroitic Period (circa 270 b.c.e.–c.e. 350) took this idea to create their own type of ba-statues, with human bodies and bird’s wings. They also carved these sculptures, which were made for tombs, in a non-Egyptian style that approaches abstraction.
Caption
Nubian. Head from a Ba-Bird Statue, 1st century B.C.E.–2nd century C.E.. Sandstone, 6 3/4 x 5 x 6 in. (17.1 x 12.7 x 15.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 75.26. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.75.26.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Culture
Title
Head from a Ba-Bird Statue
Date
1st century B.C.E.–2nd century C.E.
Period
Meroitic Period
Medium
Sandstone
Classification
Dimensions
6 3/4 x 5 x 6 in. (17.1 x 12.7 x 15.2 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
75.26
Rights
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.
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