Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · statue

Jerboa figurine

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Figurine, Jerboa. Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12–13, ca. 1850–1640 B.C. Faience. L. 4.3 cm (1 11/16 in.); W. 3 cm (1 3/16 in.); H. 4.2 cm (1 5/8 in.). Possibly from: Heliopolis (Iunu; On), Memphite Region. Subject: Animals. Credit: Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926.

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.

A small, modeled animal figurine with an arched back and rounded head, posed upright on its legs; it resembles a jerboa/rodent form.

The image shows a single pale ceramic/faience figurine with a squat, upright body. The head is rounded with small protrusions indicating ears, and the face has faint painted/brownish spots or stains (especially around the muzzle/eyes and along the upper body). The front legs are short and tucked close to the body; the hindquarters are larger, suggesting a long-eared hopping rodent (compatible with the museum’s “Jerboa figurine” identification). The surface is worn and salt-stained/dirty, with small chips along edges, consistent with an aged small figurine. No clear hieroglyphic, Greek, or other alphabetic text is visible on the object.

daily life Middle Kingdom (per catalogue) poor
Materials faienceceramic-like body (light/cream)

Connections

Found at Heliopolis
Materials Faience

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116251856 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 26.7.901 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 544082 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • 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.