Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian) · statue
Box for a Mummified Animal with Snake Figure
Description
A snake lies coiled in a figure-eight shape on top of this empty box designed to hold a mummified animal. Ancient Egyptians presented objects like this in temples as votive gifts to gods and goddesses, tailoring the enclosed mummified animal to one that had a specific connection with the deity whose favor was sought. Such a gift in a sacred space could help ensure that the prayer would be received. The hieroglyphic inscription on the front of this box names the worshiper who dedicated it and invokes Atum, a creator god whom the ancient Egyptians sometimes depicted in the form of a snake.
Inscriptions (1)
Inscription #1
English description
Inscribed with prayer to Atum
Cross-references (1)
- ARTIC-id 135993 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Art Institute of Chicago (Egyptian).
- 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.