Egyptian. <em>Plaque of a Queen or Goddess (perhaps Cleopatra IV)</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold-plated repousse silver, 15 3/4 × 9 × 1 in. (40 × 22.9 × 2.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 44.120. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 44.120_SL1.jpg)

Egyptian. Plaque of a Queen or Goddess (perhaps Cleopatra IV), 305–30 B.C.E. Gold-plated repousse silver, 15 3/4 × 9 × 1 in. (40 × 22.9 × 2.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 44.120. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 44.120_SL1.jpg)

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Plaque of a Queen or Goddess (perhaps Cleopatra IV)

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Many deities in the official Egyptian pantheon can be recognized by their headdresses. The Double Crown of the beneficent goddess Mut, whose name means “mother,” characterizes her as a conveyor of kingship and the divine mother of pharaoh. Amun, whose name means “hidden,” is portrayed as a man wearing a tall, plumed crown. When he appears with a solar disk at the base of the crown, he is known as Amun-Re, who possesses both hidden and solar creative powers. When shown in tightly enveloping garb and with an erection, he may be called Amun-Re-Kamutef, associated with fertility and regeneration. An amulet in this virile attitude would have held the promise of eternal rebirth after death. Monthly rebirth is also invoked by the full and crescent moons of Khonsu, the divine heir of Amun and Mut.

In popular religion the protection of pregnancy and birth was entrusted to such deities as Taweret and Bes. The appearance of Taweret, “The Great One,” as a pregnant hippopotamus with lion and crocodile features is a dramatic symbol of protective motherhood. The dwarf with a lion’s face and legs likely represents Bes, who was worshipped in the home as a protector of motherhood, birth, and rebirth.

CULTURE Egyptian

MEDIUM Gold-plated repousse silver

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS

Place made: Egypt
Possible place collected: Nile Delta Region, Egypt

DATES 305–30 B.C.E.

PERIOD Ptolemaic Period

DIMENSIONS 15 3/4 × 9 × 1 in. (40 × 22.9 × 2.5 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 44.120

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Gold plate repousse silver panel showing a queen or goddess in a feather garment and a feather headdress and wearing an engraved broad collar. Probably part of an incrustation for a shrine or other piece of furniture. Condition: In the space between the left arm and the body is a small hole for attachment to a probably wooden ground.

EXHIBITIONS

Cleopatra's Egypt: Age of the Ptolemies

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Egyptian. Plaque of a Queen or Goddess (perhaps Cleopatra IV), 305–30 B.C.E. Gold-plated repousse silver, 15 3/4 × 9 × 1 in. (40 × 22.9 × 2.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 44.120. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 44.120_SL1.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 44.120_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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