Isis, the Mother of Apis
Description
Object Label: The mother of the Apis bull was honored as a form of the goddess Isis, who was associated with the mother of the king. The mother of the Apis bull was also buried with great ceremony. This ornament representing the mother of the Apis wears an ostrich feather crown, a sun disk guarded by a uraeus-cobra, long cow horns, and long human hair arranged in the style of queens. Between her eyes is the diamond spot that also marked Apis bulls. Catalogue description: Culture Egyptian Caption: Egyptian. Isis, the Mother of Apis, ca. 670–332 B.C.E.. Bronze, 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 x 3 3/8 in. (11.5 x 7 x 8.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 73.25. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum (Gavin Ashworth, photographer))
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
Bronze Egyptian amuletic or votive figure depicting a central ram/cow-hide type head with two upright legs/sections and a broad base, decorated with incised geometric patterning in contrasting colors.
The object is a small, bronze-colored figure shown front-on against a neutral background. At the center is a stylized animal head with a visible snout/muzzle and a suggestion of a facial opening; on both sides stand two tall, arched, upward elements that resemble the silhouettes of upright horns or legs. Below the head is a pronounced neck/body form that transitions into a broad, flat base. Around the lower field, the surface is covered with dense incised linework: rectilinear and cross-hatched geometric bands, plus a wing/side spread effect suggested by darker inlaid areas. The head and body have areas of greenish-blue and reddish-brown surface staining/patina consistent with aged metal and possible pigment or corrosion products. No clearly legible hieroglyphic text, cartouches, or Greek/Coptic/Arabic inscriptions are visible in this image. Deity iconography specific enough to confirm “Isis, the Mother of Apis” (e.g., a clear Isis throne/plinth motif or distinctive ibis/headdress) is not explicit from the photograph alone; the form more generally resembles an Apis-related cult or associated protective amulet, but the exact deity attribution cannot be confirmed visually.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 73.25 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3818 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.