Rare Images of Ancient Egyptian Godsby Lena ToritchSmall figurines depicting rarely seen images of ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses
Ancient Museum Replicas, Kemet, Bast-Mut, Religious Statues
This is a very interesting and unusual project. I was asked to recreate images of Egyptian gods and goddesses that are rarely (or never) seen in the sculpture form. I worked with photographs of ancient scrolls and drawings, used expert's advice and descriptions.
The bronzes are pretty small, they range in height from 6" to 7 and 1/2" tall.
The images below are rare representations of ancient Egyptian deities.
This is Heryshef, a ram-headed god . Heryshef (Herishef, Heryshaf, Hershef) was an ancient creator and fertility god and god of the riverbanks whose name translates as "he who is on his lake". His cult was located at Hwt-nen-nesu (Hnes, Herakleopolis Magna) but he was also referred to as the ruler of Iunu (Heliopolis). In Ancient Egypt he was associated with Ra and Osiris and was sometimes described as the "Ba" (soul) of these gods.
Beautiful Bastet was one of the most popular goddesses of ancient Egypt. She personified the playfulness, grace, affection, and cunning of a cat as well as the fierce power of a lioness. She was also worshiped all over Lower Egypt. As the daughter of Ra she was one of the goddesses known as the "Eye of Ra", a fierce protector who almost destroyed mankind but was tricked with blood-coloured beer which put her to sleep and gave her a hangover, stopping the carnage.
Nefertem was born from a blue lotus bud which emerged from the waters of Nun at the beginning of creation. According to one legend, he brought a bouquet of beautiful lotuses to the aging Ra to ease his suffering. As a result, he was described in the Pyramid Texts as "the lotus blossom which is before the nose of Re". Nefertem was linked both to the pleasant scent of the lotus flower and to its medical properties (which were well known to the ancient Egyptians). He was also associated with a number of the Egyptians favourite flowers, such as rose, geranium and cornflower. In fact, he could be described as the archetypal aromatherapist.
Wadjet (Wadjyt, Wadjit, Uto, Uatchet, Edjo, Buto) was one of the oldest Egyptian goddesses. According to myth Wadjet was the daughter of Atum (or later Ra) who was sent her as his "eye" to find Tefnut and Shu when they were lost in the waters of Nun. He was so happy when they returned that he cried and created the first human beings from his tears. To reward his daughter, he placed her upon his head in the form of a cobra so that she would always be close to him and could act as his protector.
Wenut (Unut) was a rabbit headed goddess, whose origins dated back to prehistoric Egypt. This deity has an interesting path of evolution, for she was not always known as a rabbit shaped deity. Prior to her rabbit form which came about at an unknown point during her worship, she was represented in the form of a snake.
Bast-Mut sculpture, gold leafed. 12" tall. Bronze
