Description:
The goddess is depicted as a woman with the head of a lion, and is shown sitting on her throne, the sides of which are in openwork, displaying serpent-like figures which have been identified as depictions of the god Nehebkau; the throne is also open at the underside. The goddess is holding a scepter in her left hand and a sistrum in her right hand, and is wearing a long close-fitting garment, down to the ankles, and a tripartite wig which merges with the lion's manes. Her bracelets, anklets, and other details have been added in black. There is a suspension loop at the back of the head.
For comparable objects see Andrews (1994), p. 34, fig. 30a,d.
Amulets of maned, lion-headed women first appear in the Third Intermediate Period, and were in fact a feature of that period. However, they are very difficult to identify. Inscriptions on them often give contradictory information. One type depicts a bare-headed goddess, holding a sistrum and seated on an openwork throne. The sistrum suggests that Bastet in her original fearsome form is represented. Figures with a tall upreared cobra on top of the head, forming the front of a suspension loop, are occasionally actually named Bastet. Yet sometimes, too, identical figures are identified as Sekhmet, the fierce goddess of the Memphite area, who symbolised the burning heat of the sun and, as the sun-god's vengeful eye, destroyed his enemies and brought plague and pestilence. It might be thought that Sekhmet is probably represented by those figures with a sun-disc on the head, for they have an obvious solar connection. However, identical votive bronzes specifically mention Wadjet, the protectress of Lower Egypt, who usually assumed the form of a cobra (Andrews (1994), p. 33-34). Generally speaking, Bastet, Sakhmet, Mut, Tefnut, Shesemtet, Pakhet, Mafdet, Wadjet and others could all appear as a lioness or lion-headed woman.
Only in some cases it is clear that Bastet is represented, as is the case with figures of a cat, holding in her left arm a small basket in which she has placed her kittens. But it becomes less clear when her aspects are rather leonine, which could be reminiscent of the "Dangerous Goddess", and at the same time details or inscriptions define her as Bastet. Based on the attributes, and in the absence of an inscription, or even with an inscription, the identification of lion-headed goddesses remains extremely difficult (Lebrun-Nélis - Brasseur (2009), p. 232-233).
This ambiguity has to do with the Egyptian way of thinking in terms of opposites, such as day and night, Nile valley and desert, Upper and Lower Egypt, and many others. The goddesses Sekhmet and Bastet began to be paired as such opposites complementing each other as early as circa 1850 BC. The Myth of the Eye of the Sun in the temple at Philae, some 1700 years later, described the goddess Hathor-Tefnut with the words "She rages like Sekhmet and she is friendly like Bastet". Eventually they came to be thought of as aspects of the same goddess, one threatening and dangerous, the other protective and peaceful (Malek (1997), p. 95), also because cats are known to attack unexpectedly, even when a moment ago they were peacefully purring. Similarly, a mother lioness can be gentle and nurturing and yet fiercely aggressive when protecting her cubs. This duality of fury and care became the quintessential quality of feline goddesses (Barbash (2016), p. 23). For this aspect see also Joseph (2018), esp. p. 36-41.
Bibliography:
Carol Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt (London, British Museum Press, 1994);
Yekaterina Barbash, Divine Felines. Cats of Ancient Egypt (New York, Brooklyn Museum, 2016);
Amgad Joseph, "Divine Wrath in Ancient Egypt", Études et Travaux XXXI (2018), p. 27–65;
Anne Lebrun-Nélis - Charlotte Brasseur, "Déesse à tête de lionne", in Claire Derriks - Luc Delvaux (eds.), Antiquités égyptiennes au Musée royal de Mariemont (Morlanwelz, Musée royal de Mariemont, 2009), p. 231-233;
Jaromir Malek, The Cat in Ancient Egypt (London, British Museum Press, 1993; Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997).
Dating:
Late Period to Ptolemaic Period, circa 664-30 B.C.
Size:
Height 5.9 cm.
Provenance:
Dutch private collection, acquired from Sotheby's New York, sale of 17 December 1996, lot 27.
Condition:
Intact with some encrustation and surface wear.
Price:
€ 5,500
Stock number:
E1370