Collection
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Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Seated Wadjet

664–343 B.C.E.

1 of 21

Caption

Seated Wadjet, 664–343 B.C.E.. Bronze, animal remains, 21 1/4 × 5 1/16 × 9 9/16 in. (54 × 12.9 × 24.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.622. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.622_front_PS2.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Seated Wadjet

Date

664–343 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 26 to Dynasty 30

Period

Late Period

Medium

Bronze, animal remains

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

21 1/4 × 5 1/16 × 9 9/16 in. (54 × 12.9 × 24.3 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

36.622

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

  • Who is depicted in this sculpture? Also, what are her feet resting on?

    This is a sculpture of Wadjet, a powerful lion headed goddess. The sculpture functioned as a coffin for a mummified ichneumon (Egyptian mongoose) and would have been placed in a temple. Many ancient Egyptian seated statues show a platform under the feet; sometimes it serves as a place for inscription.
    What are the symbols on her arm? What is she wearing on her head?
    I believe she is wearing an arm band, which is decorative jewelry for elite and divine subjects in Ancient Egypt. And it's probable that on her head was a sun disk, meant to show her divine status and her relationship (as daugher) to the sun god Re. This looks to be broken off and we are just left with a remnant.
    Is that jewelry displayed around her hands too?
    Yes, they are also decorated with bracelets. The more lavish and detailed the decorations on a divine figure, the more important they were considered in the hierarchy of the gods.
    Is she sitting on a throne?
    Yes, she is. You'll see different kinds of styling for thrones throughout the galleries. Styles changed throughout the dynasties, sometimes there were innovations, sometimes artists of a later dynasty would start reusing styles from an earlier period (called archaism) to associate their time with the positive attributes of an earlier generation.
    Why would they create human and animal features in the face?
    Most ancient Egyptian deities were associated with an animal and its attributes. They were all commonly shown with a human body and the head of the animal. This easily communicated that it was the deity and not just the animal, for example.
    Thank you so much for your help. This is such a useful resource!

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