Votive Menat fragments
Unknown Artist
ca. 1479–1458 B.C.
Medium
Faience
Dimensions
H. 4.6 × W. 2.7 cm (1 13/16 × 1 1/16 in.)
Classification
Menat fragment
Period
New Kingdom
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1923
Accession Number
23.3.67
Art Historical Context
These delicate **Votive Menat fragments dating to around 1479–1458 B.C. during Egypt's New Kingdom (Dyn 18), offer a glimpse into ancient religious devotion. Crafted as small votive offerings—likely dedicated to Hathor, the goddess of music, love, and fertility—the menat was a ceremonial necklace or rattle used in temple rituals to invoke divine favor. These fragments, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Egyptian Art (acquired via the Fund in 1923), measure just 4.6 x 2.7 cm, highlighting the exquisite miniaturization of sacred art in this golden age of pharaonic power under rulers ...