Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Buchis Bull Offering Table

ca. 200 B.C.E.–300 C.E.

1 of 4

Object Label

The Buchis bull was associated with the war god Montu. Each Buchis was likely a wild bull, distinguished by its white body and black head.

The bull was mummified at its death and buried in a sandstone sarcophagus. After burial, priests made food and drink offerings to it on tables like this one.

Caption

Buchis Bull Offering Table, ca. 200 B.C.E.–300 C.E.. Stone, 4 5/8 x 13 11/16 x 17 1/4 in. (11.8 x 34.7 x 43.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 32.2088. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 32.2088_PS1.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Buchis Bull Offering Table

Date

ca. 200 B.C.E.–300 C.E.

Period

Late Ptolemaic Period to Roman Period

Geography

Place excavated: Armant, Egypt

Medium

Stone

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

4 5/8 x 13 11/16 x 17 1/4 in. (11.8 x 34.7 x 43.8 cm)

Credit Line

Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society

Accession Number

32.2088

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

  • Why is the center of this piece recessed? Are those stairs?

    Those are stairs. This is an offering table made to be used after the burial of the Buchis bull. The steps symbolize a downward descent into the earth. Offerings of food would be placed in this depression for the bull to eat in the afterlife.
    So awesome. Thank you!

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