Ibis Figurine
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

57-Ibis Figurine

Title Ibis Figurine
Era Egyptian, Late Period, 722–323 BCE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.757

The ibis was the sacred bird of the god Thoth, responsible for wisdom, writing, and knowledge. In ancient Egypt, ibises were seen as the manifestation of the god. The ibis sits with its tail feathers touching the ground. The tenon at the back of its legs was once inserted into a separately fashioned base. Bronze ibis statuettes were popular gifts to the god in the 1st millennium BCE. Ibis statuettes were deposited in catacombs along with ibis mummies and in temples or shrines to Thoth.1

MH

  1. Such as the South Ibis Complex and Catacombs in Saqqara; . ↩︎

Bibliography

Martin 1981
Martin, Geoffrey T. 1981. The Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara: The Southern Dependencies of the Main Temple Complex. London: Egypt Exploration Society.
Ibis Figurine
© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University