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Stela with Image of Seth

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

As early as the Predynastic Period (before circa 3100 B.C.) Egyptian artisans represented the god Seth as an enigmatic animal. Scholars have attempted to associate this animal with the ass, the oryx, the greyhound, the camel, the okapi, the aardvark, the giraffe, and the boar. None of these associations, however, seem plausible. In all probability the Seth animal docs not represent an actual living species. Rather it was a creation of the Egyptian imagination.

MEDIUM Slate
DATES ca. 664-30 B.C.E.
PERIOD Late Period to Ptolemaic Period (probably)
DIMENSIONS 3 7/16 x 2 7/8 in. (8.8 x 7.3 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 16.580.187
CREDIT LINE Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Green slate, round topped stela. At left, incised, standing figure of Anubis with ankh in right hand and scepter in extended left hand. Condition: Lower right corner missing. Small chip on left side.
CAPTION Stela with Image of Seth, ca. 664-30 B.C.E. Slate, 3 7/16 x 2 7/8 in. (8.8 x 7.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.187. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 16.580.187_NegA_print_bw_SL4.jpg)
IMAGE front, 16.580.187_NegA_print_bw_SL4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2023
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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