Image of a Ba-bird on a Headboard from a Coffin
Description
Object Label: The human-headed bird represents the ba-soul, part of the Egyptian soul that could leave the tomb and travel both in this world and in the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians recited spells to ensure that the ba returned to the mummy, its natural home, from its various journeys. Caption: Image of a Ba-bird on a Headboard from a Coffin, ca. 945–712 B.C.E.. Wood, gesso, pigment, 11 x 12 5/8 x 5 5/8 in., 5 lb. (28 x 32.1 x 14.3 cm, 2.27kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 75.27. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06
Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
Depiction of a winged figure with snakes on an ancient Egyptian wooden panel.
The artifact is a painted wooden panel depicting a central winged figure with a human face, possibly representing a deity or protective spirit. The figure is adorned with colorful wings and is flanked by cobras. The use of vivid colors and stylistic elements suggest a rich artistic tradition. The background features geometric motifs, enhancing the visual impact. The board appears to be part of a larger structure, possibly a coffin or architectural element.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 75.27 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3842 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.