Ba bird


Accession Number
EC235
Current Location
House of Death (ground floor), Offerings case
Object Type
Sculpture, Ba bird
Material
Wood
Measurements
Height: 78mm | Width: 74mm | Depth: 50mm
Number of Elements
1

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Description

A wooden ba bird with metal stick legs and a solar disc on its head. Stylistically this seems to come from Meroe. The sun disc may imply that the Meroites believed that their dead were associated with the sun god. There are traces of gesso and paint, particularly on the wings. The brightness of colour on the wings compared to the rest of the body and the apparent repositioning of the wings might suggest that the wings originally belonged to a separate artefact.

Bibliography

Anonymous. 1996. The face of Egypt: Swansea Festival exhibition: 5 October 1996–5 January 1997. Swansea: Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. [Cat. 204]