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Openwork Menat

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Jewelry for both life and death, the menat was originally associated with the goddess Hathor but later related to many other goddesses as well, as a symbol of protection, victory, life, birth, and rebirth. Here, these ideas are conveyed by double images (from left to right) of Mut, Sakhmet, and Hathor (or lsis-Hathor) below the sun, which is shown victoriously born/reborn as a child. Baboons, which are also hieroglyphs for "good" and "beautiful," praise his rising at dawn.

MEDIUM Faience
DATES ca. 800 B.C.E. or later
PERIOD Third Intermediate Period to Late Period
DIMENSIONS 44.159.2a: 2 11/16 x 2 3/16 in. (6.9 x 5.5 cm) 44.159.2b: 2 5/16 x 2 3/4 in. (5.9 x 7 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 44.159.2
CREDIT LINE Gift of Spink and Son, Ltd.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Openwork Menat, ca. 800 B.C.E. or later. Faience, 44.159.2a: 2 11/16 x 2 3/16 in. (6.9 x 5.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Spink and Son, Ltd., 44.159.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.44.159.2a_44.159.2b_front.JPG)
IMAGE front, CUR.44.159.2a_44.159.2b_front.JPG. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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