<em>Paddle Doll</em>, ca. 2081–1700 B.C.E. Wood, mud, pigment, 9 x 2 5/8 x 3/16 in. (22.8 x 6.7 x 0.5 cm)Measurements: Ht. 22.8 cm.; greatest width c. 6.7 cm.; thickness 0.5 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.102E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.102E_NegA_print_bw.jpg)

Paddle Doll, ca. 2081–1700 B.C.E. Wood, mud, pigment, 9 x 2 5/8 x 3/16 in. (22.8 x 6.7 x 0.5 cm)Measurements: Ht. 22.8 cm.; greatest width c. 6.7 cm.; thickness 0.5 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.102E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.102E_NegA_print_bw.jpg)

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Tell me more.

The term paddle doll dates to archaeologists’ first discovery of such objects in the early twentieth century.

Today, Egyptologists understand these objects not as dolls, but as representations of musicians who doubled as midwives. The necklaces they wear, called a menat, may have also been used as rattle.

The Egyptians considered music and sound to be a therapeutic or even magical element aiding childbirth. When these images were included in the tomb, they could help ease the pain of rebirth into the next life.

Paddle Doll

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor

So-called paddle dolls are flat, schematic representations of naked, legless female figures on which jewelry, belts, and other details have been painted or drawn. Made as fertility figures, they were dedicated to goddesses by women or couples hoping to have children. Some are adorned with strings of mud pellets, apparently imitating hair. Many also have painted images— possibly representing tattoos—of deities such as Bes and Taweret or of human couples in sexual embrace.

MEDIUM Wood, mud, pigment

Place Made: Egypt

DATES ca. 2081–1700 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 11 to early Dynasty 13

PERIOD Middle Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 9 x 2 5/8 x 3/16 in. (22.8 x 6.7 x 0.5 cm)Measurements: Ht. 22.8 cm.; greatest width c. 6.7 cm.; thickness 0.5 cm. (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.102E

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented; by 1852, acquired in Egypt by Henry Abbott; 1859, purchased from Henry Abbott by the New-York Historical Society, New York, NY; September 1948, purchased from the New-York Historical Society by the Brooklyn Museum.

Provenance FAQ

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Flat wooden female figurine with details of anatomy and garment painted in red and black on the front. Tied around the neck are five strings of gray mud pellets, probably representing hair, and the knots and ends of the strings are glued to the back of the head with a dark adhesive. The figures of Ta-weret and a crocodile are painted on the front. Condition: The ends of the arms are broken off, and there are two holes through the left center. The right lower edge is broken away and has been gnawed by rodents. The back is covered with grayish dirt, and there are diagonal score lines across the front.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Paddle Doll, ca. 2081–1700 B.C.E. Wood, mud, pigment, 9 x 2 5/8 x 3/16 in. (22.8 x 6.7 x 0.5 cm)Measurements: Ht. 22.8 cm.; greatest width c. 6.7 cm.; thickness 0.5 cm. Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.102E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.102E_NegA_print_bw.jpg)

IMAGE overall, CUR.37.102E_NegA_print_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010

"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.

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Tell me more.

The term paddle doll dates to archaeologists’ first discovery of such objects in the early twentieth century.

Today, Egyptologists understand these objects not as dolls, but as representations of musicians who doubled as midwives. The necklaces they wear, called a menat, may have also been used as rattle.