Plaque Depicting a Queen or Goddess
Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BCE)
Medium
Limestone
Dimensions
21.6 × 19.6 × 2.1 cm (8 1/2 × 7 3/4 × 1 in.)
Classification
plaque (flat object)
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
121726
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
A headdress in the form of a vulture crowns this female figure, indicating her status as a queen or goddess. Although of Greek descent, pharaohs and queens of this era used traditional Egyptian markers of royalty and divinity, including crowns, to represent themselves. Her beaded necklace is embellished with lotus blossoms and flowering papyrus umbels—plants indigenous to the Nile River valley—further indicating her close affinity with Egypt.
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....