Schilbe Fish of Hatmehit
664–30 B.C.E.
Brooklyn Museum photograph (Gavin Ashworth, photographer)
Object Label
Fish mummies were among the first kinds of animal mummies created by the Egyptians. The shilbe fish was associated with the goddess Hatmehit, whose name means “chief of the fishes.” And the tilapia fish represented fertility. Nevertheless, royalty could not eat fish, as the working class did, because according to myth, fish nibbled at the body of the drowned Osiris before his resurrection in the next world.
Caption
Schilbe Fish of Hatmehit, 664–30 B.C.E.. Bronze, 2 1/2 x 1/2 x 3 in., 0.2 lb. (6.4 x 1.3 x 7.6 cm, 0.08kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 05.573. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth, photographer))
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Title
Schilbe Fish of Hatmehit
Date
664–30 B.C.E.
Period
Ptolemaic Period to early Roman Period
Medium
Bronze
Classification
Dimensions
2 1/2 x 1/2 x 3 in., 0.2 lb. (6.4 x 1.3 x 7.6 cm, 0.08kg)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
05.573
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