Figure of Shu
Description
Object Label: The Egyptians represented the relationship between sky and earth by showing the body of Nut rising in a majestic arc over the figure of the dark, fecund earth god, Geb. To prevent them from further sexual union after the birth of Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys, they were separated eternally by Shu, the god of air. Shu represented the eternal patterns of change the ancient Egyptians associated with cyclical time (neheh). His sister, the leonine goddess Tefnut, was related to the eternal sameness of linear time (djet). Like most amulets of Shu, this example shows the god kneeling with his arms upraised. The gesture symbolizes Shu's eternal role as the god who separates the deities Nut (sky) and Geb (earth). Caption: Figure of Shu, ca. 1070.–653 B.C.E.. Faience, 1 3/4 × 7/8 × 3/4 in. (4.5 × 2.2 × 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.954E. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
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.
Small turquoise-blue faience statuette depicting a seated standing figure with a human-like torso and head, flanked by winged or arm-like elements.
The image shows a small, turquoise-blue faience figurine photographed against a light, grid-like background. The figure has a rounded head and a torso shaped with molded, recessed details; a pair of protruding, wing-like or arm-like forms extend from both sides of the upper body. The lower section narrows into a base, suggesting a standing or enthroned support. No clearly legible inscriptions, cartouches, or individual hieroglyph signs are visible on the visible surfaces. The overall style and coloration are consistent with ceramic/true-glaze faience objects from Egyptian contexts, though specific deity attributes cannot be confirmed from the image alone beyond the museum-assigned identification.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 37.954E tier-2
- BKM-Object 117533 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.