Aegis of Bastet
- Accession Number
- AB12
Licensing details
- Description
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A stone aegis of Bastet surmounted by a cat's head. The cat wears a solar-disc on her head. Such items were carried by musicians and priests. The aegis is a representation of a menat-collar, as worn by Hathor and feline goddesses such as Bastet. Amuletic aegises became popular from the Late Period. This example is possibly from Abydos. The object was gifted to the University of Wales, Aberystwyth by John Bancroft Willans, a subscriber of the Egypt Exploration Fund/Society, who received the object in 1903. It was subsequently gifted to the Egypt Centre in 1997.
- Bibliography
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Andrews, Carol 1994. Amulets of ancient Egypt. London: The British Museum Press. Ivanov, Sergej 2003. The Aegis in ancient Egyptian art: aspects of interpretation. In Hawass, Zahi and Lyla Pinch Brock (eds), Egyptology at the dawn of the twenty-first century: proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists, Cairo, 2000 2, 332–339. Cairo; New York: American University in Cairo Press. Teeter, Emily and Janet H. Johnson (eds) 2009. The life of Meresamun: a temple singer in ancient Egypt. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 29. Chicago: Oriental Institute, University of Chicago. [pp. 37–38]