Standing Hippopotamus
Description
Object Label: Egyptian artists decorated statuettes of hippos with images of Nile flora and fauna. Common motifs included lotus buds, flowers, marsh grass, lily pads, frogs, waterfowl, and insects. The legs of most statuettes were broken just before burial to ensure that they posed no threat to the tomb owner. Museum conservators restored the legs of many examples, including this one, to show how the statuettes looked when they were made. Caption: Standing Hippopotamus, ca. 1938–1539 B.C.E.. Faience, 4 1/4 x 6 9/16 in. (10.8 x 16.7 cm). Anonymous loan, L48.7.19. (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.
A blue faience hippopotamus figurine with decorative motifs.
The artifact is a small blue faience figurine of a hippopotamus, adorned with painted lotus flowers and other decorative motifs. The vibrant blue color and the intricate designs are typical of Egyptian craftsmanship, often symbolizing regeneration and life. The figure stands on a white plinth, highlighting its artistic features.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession L48.7.19 tier-2
- BKM-Object 126506 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.