Pectoral with Sacred Bovine Head
Late Period–Middle Ptolemaic Period, c. 664–200 B.C.
Met Museum. 59.83
Beneath a canopy of uraei supported by Hathoric columns, the serene face of a sacred bovine emerges from an ornate aegis collar. Crowned with a solar disk, long horns and curling feathers, the animal is flanked by rearing cobras bearing disks and horns of their own.
The pectoral belongs to a small group associated with the sacred Apis bull and the Mother of Apis. Its shrine-like setting may evoke the ceremonial appearance of a newly recognised sacred animal, or perhaps the funerary procession of a deceased Apis to his burial. The distinctly divine crown and aegis may alternatively suggest the Mother of Apis, closely associated with Isis and presented here as a creature worthy of veneration.
Summary:
Pectoral with Sacred Bovine Head (Made of Cupreous Metal & Carnelian)
Late Period–Middle Ptolemaic Period, 664–200 B.C.
Met Museum. 59.83
