Model of a Bull
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
This linen model of a bull encloses a single bone, perhaps bovine. Votive mummies could contain only part of the animal. Often, elaborate wrappings seem to substitute for the animal itself.
MEDIUM
Reeds, cloth, animal remains (one bone, species unclear)
DATES
ca. 1075–332 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 21 to Dynasty 30
PERIOD
Third Intermediate Period or Late Period
DIMENSIONS
6 3/4 × 2 3/4 × 9 3/4 in. (17.1 × 7 × 24.8 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
37.1381E
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
The object is a mummy in the form of a reclining bull. There appears to be an inner bundle set onto two parallel wooden sticks. An outer wrapping envelopes the inner bundle and the sticks. The linens wrappings are medium brown, with various coarseness and tightness of weave. The mummy contains a single bone (possibly bull).
Condition: The mummy is extremely fragile. Although the form is still intact there are numerous loose, fraying and detached fragments. The horns are not upright but are securely attached. There are multiple layers of wrapping mostly wound vertically from the head to tail. Most of the outer wrappings, which appear to surround the inner form and the wooden supports, have been lost or are detached. The wooden supports are almost completely exposed on the back half of the mummy on both sides. There appears to be looser and coarser woven linen, but they are possibly unraveled strips of the same material.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Model of a Bull, ca. 1075–332 B.C.E. Reeds, cloth, animal remains (one bone, species unclear), 6 3/4 × 2 3/4 × 9 3/4 in. (17.1 × 7 × 24.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1381E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1381E_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 37.1381E_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
"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.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
Can you give me more info on the Model of a Bull?
The main point of interest with that object is that the single bone could stand for the whole animal. Bulls, of course, are very large so the bull-shaped bundle was much more practical. The bull was actually one of the most important animals in Egyptian mythology. One sacred bull, the Apis bull, lived in the temple of Ptah and was thought to be a manifestation of the god. When the Apis bull died, a new one was sought out. They were identified by their unique markings including a white spot on the forehead.
Tell me more.
This animal mummy actually only contains a single bone, that is possibly but not definitely from a bull. The elaborate shape of the wrapping was done in order to compensate for the lack of real animal remains.
Bulls and cows in ancient Egypt were commonly used for food and as beasts of burden, but their strength and fertility also became associated with royal power.
