Stela with Image of Seth
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Object Label
As early as the Predynastic Period (before circa 3100 B.C.) Egyptian artisans represented the god Seth as an enigmatic animal. Scholars have attempted to associate this animal with the ass, the oryx, the greyhound, the camel, the okapi, the aardvark, the giraffe, and the boar. None of these associations, however, seem plausible. In all probability the Seth animal docs not represent an actual living species. Rather it was a creation of the Egyptian imagination.
Caption
Stela with Image of Seth, ca. 664–30 B.C.E.. Slate, 3 7/16 x 2 7/8 in. (8.8 x 7.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.187. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 16.580.187_NegA_print_bw_SL4.jpg)
Title
Stela with Image of Seth
Date
ca. 664–30 B.C.E.
Period
Late Period to Ptolemaic Period (probably)
Medium
Slate
Classification
Dimensions
3 7/16 x 2 7/8 in. (8.8 x 7.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour
Accession Number
16.580.187
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.
Frequent Art Questions
On another note, what animal is Seth's head?
We're not actually sure. Seth is often pictured with the head of something that looks like a dog, or jackal, but a little different. Many scholars just refer to it as the Seth animal.
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