Low relief carving


Accession Number
W348
Current Location
In storage
Object Type
Architecture, Architectural decoration, Relief
Period
Late Period
Material
Stone/minerals (Sandstone)
Measurements
Height: 487mm | Width: 414mm | Depth: 62mm
Number of Elements
1
Culture
Egyptian

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Description

1 low relief carving, presumably from a temple, with plaster repair. The god Hapi giving an offering. The alter has a was sceptre on it and ankh symbol below. This shows the Nile god Hapi (not the baboon headed Son of Horus), who was a personification of the annual flooding of the Nile. His pot belly and pendulous breasts were to stress his fertility and fecundity aspects. It has also been suggested that the androgynous aspects of the king Akhenaten likewise drew on male and female aspects to stress fertility. Hapi presents a tray of offerings on which is a wAs symbol and two hes vases. The text reads: I have brought to you all offerings for ever. Hapi of Upper Egypt Who gives life. All provision, things good and pure for your altar. 480mm 405mm. Purchased by Wellcome at auction from the Tabor Collection in 1928.

Bibliography

Anonymous. 1996. The face of Egypt: Swansea Festival exhibition: 5 October 1996–5 January 1997. Swansea: Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. [Cat. 70]