Brooklyn Museum: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Atum as a Human-Headed Cobra

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Atum as a Human-Headed Cobra

Egyptian religion frequently adopted a mulitplicity of approaches to explain or represent different aspects of a single divine concept. The sun god, for instance, had a morning aspect called Khepri, commonly depicted as a scarab beetle pushing the sun disk across the heavens much as a beetle rolls a ball of dung across the desert floor. The noontime sun was Re or Re-Horakhty, often shown as a falcon or falcon-headed man with a sun disk on his head. Atum, who personified the sun that set over the western horizon to travel through the underworld, could be represented in many guises, including those of a human-headed cobra, a ram-headed man, or a weary old man.

Medium: Bronze
Place Made: Egypt
Dates: ca. 664-30 B.C.E.
Period: Late Period-Ptolemaic Period
Dimensions: 6 x 1 1/2 x 14 1/16 in. (15.3 x 3.8 x 35.7 cm)
Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art
Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Egyptian Cosmos, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Accession Number: 36.624
Credit Line: Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Image: Overall, 36.624_print_bw_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Atum as a Human-Headed Cobra