Isis nursing Horus in the marshes depicted on a fragment from a box lid or menat counterpoise
Unknown Artist
ca. 1070–664 B.C.
Medium
Glazed steatite
Dimensions
H. 5 × W. 4.5 cm (1 15/16 × 1 3/4 in.)
Classification
Box lid?, Menat?, Isis in marshes, Horus
Period
Third Intermediate Period
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
Accession Number
30.8.239
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate fragment, likely from a box lid or counterpoise of aat ritual necklace, captures a timeless Egyptian motif: the goddess Isis nursing her infant son Horus amid protective marsh reeds. Dating to Egypt's Third Intermediate Period (. 1070–664 B.C., Dynasties 21–25), it measures just 5 x 4.5 cm, yet conveys profound maternal devotion and divine safeguarding. In mythology, Isis hid Horus in the Nile Delta marshes to shield him from his uncle Set, symbolizing protection, fertility, and kingship—core themes in Egyptian religion that persisted through turbulent times of political division...