Ibis Statuette, On Wood Base

From card: "Depicts a squatting ibis, with head erect. Body is of unidentified hardwood, with fore-edge of wings indicated; neck, head and beak, as well as legs, are of bronze, hollow cast: neck is cemented into body, and legs are dowelled into the wood; bronze shell recessed into wood forms a tail piece; feet and heels with tenons for attachment to (modern) wood base; insets (?) missing from both eyes. Card on base incl. following: "Ibis representing God Thot (Zehouti) god of wisdom and science, who corresponds to the Greek Hermes. He was god of Kemenu, the capital of the XVth province of Upper-Egypt (now Acshmounein in Middle Egypt) to which the Greeks gave the name of Hermopolis Magna. This statue was found with many others in the underground galleries at Tuna el-Gebel to the West of Acshmounein. Tuna was the necropolis of this great city. Late excavations led to the discovery of a series of galleries containing a big collection of mummified ibises and statues of the same bird in different materials." Lent to C.A.L. 2/2/90. Returned 2/12/90. Radiographs made at C.A.L. Copies available in Anth. Conservation Lab. 1978 NMNH slide set caption: Ibis Figure, bronze and wooden, freestanding, represents Thot, god of wisdom and science, Egyptian, Upper Nile at Tuna-el-Gebel necropolis, gift to museum by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Note re photos: Negative # 78-8772 is profile, lt, overview. 78-8773 is 3/4, lt, overview.

From NMNH Exhibit Hall "Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt" label for this artifact, 2011: Ibis coffin, 332-30 B.C. This bronze and wood coffin probably sat on a base that held an ibis mummy.

21 Apr 2025

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