Egyptian Greywacke Cosmetic Fish Spoon Section

A blue glazed composition figure of the advancing god Ra (possibly Ra-Horakhty), falcon-headed and wearing a sun disc, set on an integral rectangular base, left leg positioned in front of the right, arms held straight by his sides, wearing a wig and kilt; tapering pillar with suspension loop behind solar disc; repaired. 18.4 grams, 87 mm high



Acquired from Dr Jan Beekmans, circa 1982. UK private collection.

In ancient Egypt, Ra sat as the king of all the deities and the father of all creation, the god who could not only govern the sun, but who transformed himself into the sun. He was associated with the falcon, hence he is typically portrayed as a human with a falcon's head. The major cultic centre for Ra was the ancient city Iwnw, known as Heliopolis to the Greeks, which today lies under modern Cairo. The ancient Egyptians were an agricultural society inhabiting a desert; the sun (and thus Ra) was an integral component of their world view. Placed on the chest of the deceased, this amulet offered the wearer the chance of eternal renewal each morning with the sun.

A glazed composition amuletic pendant of an ibis standing on a rectangular base, its curved beak resting on its chest. 4.25 grams, 28 mm



From a UK private collection, 1975-1978.

A pale blue glazed mummiform shabti for an Imy-Khent priest, modelled standing on a rectangular base, arms crossed over the chest and holding a pick and a hoe, seed bag over the left shoulder, wearing a tripartite wig and false beard; two vertical columns of hieroglyphs to the front of the body, plain dorsal pillar; some of the hieroglyphs spelling the owner's name are poorly rendered, but appears to be Ba-ankh-sa-sobeky. 99 grams, 13.5 cm high



From a Worcester deceased estate. Property of a Cambridgeshire gentleman. Accompanied by an academic report by Egyptologist Paul Whelan.

Although the name of the shabti’s owner and, in particular, that of his parent, are rather unclear, the titles are clearly written and inform us that Ba-ankh-sa-sobeky served as an ‘Imy-khent priest’ associated with the Delta city of Mendes, where the principal deity was the sacred ram god Ba-neb-djedet (meaning ‘Ram, lord of Djedet’). The hieroglyph of the standing ram (Ba) forms the first part of the priest’s name. From the Late Period onwards the priestly title of the nearby city of Hermopolis Parva, ‘One who Separates the Two Gods’, also appears in Mendesian title strings, perhaps indicating that Hermopolis Parva and its religious cults had come under the control of Mendes; indeed, Mendes is thought to have been the capital of Egypt during the 29th Dynasty. The crocodile god Sobek was also worshipped at Mendes in later periods and Ba-ankh-sa-sobeky’s name appears to reflect both this reptilian deity and the traditional ram god of the city.