Weight in the Form of a Hippopotamus Head
Unknown Artist
c. 1540–1296 BCE
Medium
hematite
Dimensions
2.2 × 3 × 4.2 cm
Classification
Implements
Department
Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1992.114
About this artwork
Sensuously carved and polished to a silky luster, this weight takes the form of a hippopotamus head. Eyes, ears, and nostrils ae modeled in relief; the mouth is closed. The flat underside provides a surface on which to rest the object. This hippo head weighs 62.1 grams, roughly three-quarters of a deben, a unit of weight in ancient Egypt. As such it does not correspond to any of the more usual subdivisions of the deben, although similar examples are known. In fact it is an inter-standard weight,...