Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The short kilt with rounded edges and rectangular tab hanging between the legs is the only indication that this leonine deity is male. The well-sculpted bare torso displays an elaborate, four-banded broad collar. Gold leaf inlay ornaments the eyes, and a single, large rearing cobra crowns the lion head. The long, elongated feline face has a narrow, almost humanoid, nose. The whiskers on the rounded muzzle are represented by an abstract petal-like pattern. The god holds both of his hands clenched with holes through them, indicating the original placement of attributes. The proper left fist is positioned vertically and attached to the leg by a short strut, while the right rests horizontally across the knee. Overall, this statue exhibits a sensitivity in the modeling of the human form, evident in the slight swelling of the belly, the slender arms and legs, and the individually detailed toes. The boxlike footrest is attached to the throne by a thin strip of bronze, now broken. Faint incisions mark the edges and sides of the throne, but the designs are no longer visible to the naked eye. It is possible to make out what appears to be a falcon between lotus buds, which is similar to the depiction on the throne sides of 1943.1121.B.
The two magnificent statues of enthroned lion-headed deities represent Late Period Egyptian bronze working at its finest. They may belong to Dynasty 26 (c. 664-525 BCE) based on comparisons with dated examples (1). The two figures depict a female deity (1943.1121.B) and a more rarely found male deity (1943.1121.A); they do not, however, constitute a matched pair, as the workmanship and stylistic features distinguish them as products of different artists. A study of similar bronzes in the Berlin museum revealed that they were often used as containers for sacrificed ichneumons, although the Harvard examples are empty (2). The ichneumon, as the hunter of dangerous serpents with which the lioness goddesses are connected, transforms the potentially destructive nature of the divinity into a tamed protector.
The lion (or more accurately lioness) head is the most common animal head for female deities and it is associated with several different ones. In the absence of an inscription, it can be difficult to determine which goddess is represented. In the New Kingdom, one goddess who was represented in large stone sculptures of lion-headed goddesses was Sakhmet, whose name literally means “She who is Powerful.” Similarly forceful goddesses assume the leonine attributes, including Matit (“She who Dismembers”), Mehit (“She who Seizes”), and Pakhet (“She who Scratches”) (3). Inscriptions on Late Period lion-headed bronzes most commonly name the goddess Wadjet, associated with the Delta site of Buto, as is the case with 1943.1121.B. As the regional goddess of Lower Egypt, she appears in the form of a fire-spiting serpent and was paired with Nekhbet, the vulture-goddess of Upper Egypt. Together they appear as protomes on royal headdresses, Wadjet taking the form of the cobra-head (known to us through the Greek name, uraeus). Wadjet also encompasses a solar aspect and, along with Sakhmet, is equated with the fiery eye of Re, hence the common occurrence of the solar disc in the iconography of lion goddesses. There is also evidence that the destructive qualities of these goddesses were softened by their syncretism with more benign goddesses such as Bastet, Hathor, and Mut. A bronze seated lion-headed goddess in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, that is quite close iconographically to 1943.1121.B, is inscribed with a prayer to Mut (4).
Most feline deities are female, and the depiction of lion-headed male deities is unusual. The identification of 1943.1121.A as male is based on the fact that the deity wears a short kilt instead of the tight-fitting long dress (5). The leonine heads are not differentiated between the male and female, since both have a slightly flaring mane that surrounds the face and a long tripartite wig, which conceals the junction between animal and human forms. Inscribed examples of male lion-headed deity statuettes are much less common than inscribed female examples; Roeder notes one example with a prayer to Horus, Son of Wadjet in Berlin (6). A second piece inscribed with epithets of Horus is in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (7). Such inscriptions, however, may also be associated with Wadjet, as is the case for Harvard’s female deity 1943.1121.B. In addition, the lion-headed gods can be connected with Shu, the son of the creator-god Atum and brother of Tefnut. The brother-sister couple, who began the sexual cycle of reproduction through their mating, were identified with the lion and worshipped at Leontopolis (Tell Muqdam in the Delta). Also worshipped in leonine form at Leontopolis was Mahes (Greek: Miysis or Mios), a war god and guardian of sacred places (8). A Greek commentary mentions sacred enclosures and catacombs for mummified lions at this site, but no archaeological finds have confirmed this practice (9).
NOTES:
1. See, for example, B. V. Bothmer, “Statuettes of W3d.t as Ichneumon Coffins,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 8 (1949): 121-23, esp. 121 n.2 (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv. no. 11867, excavated at Sais in the Delta).
2. Ibid.
3. A. K. Capel and G. E. Markoe, Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven: Women in Ancient Egypt, exh. cat., Cincinnati Art Museum; Brooklyn Museum (New York, 1996) no. 67.
4. M. Saleh, The Egyptian Museum Cairo: Official Catalogue (Mainz, 1987) no. 254, thought to come from Sais.
5. For comparable male deities, see G. Roeder, Ägyptische Bronzefiguren, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Mitteilungen aus der Ägyptischen Sammlung 6 (Berlin, 1956) 66-68, pls. 11.1 and 12.a-b, .d-e) (Berlin inv. nos. 13131 and 13788).
6. Ibid., 68 (Berlin inv. no. 13788).
7. Although with an elaborate hmhm headdress consisting of three papyriform columns, maat feathers, uraei, and sun discs; see A Glimpse into the Past: The Joseph Ternbach Collections, exh. cat., The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (1981) 154-55, no. 120.
8. “Miysis,” in Lexicon der Ägyptologie, Pt. 26, vol. 4, pt. 2 (Wiesbaden, 1980) 163-64.
9. P. F. Houlihan, The Animal World of the Pharaohs (London, 1996) 95.
Marian Feldman
