Ibis
Object NameFigurine and Stand
Date664-30 BCE
OriginEgypt
MediumWood, bronze,gesso, and remains of gilding
DimensionsA: 4 × 5 1/8 × 2 1/2 in. (10.2 × 13 × 6.4 cm)
B: 1 1/4 × 6 × 2 in. (3.2 × 15.2 × 5.1 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of Ann and Henry Brunnier. In the Ann and Henry Brunnier Collection, Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object number5.1.2ab
Status
Not on viewCollections
CultureEgyptian
Label TextFound in the tropics, the ibis is related to the heron with long legs and a slender, curved bill. Sacred to ancient Egyptian culture, the ibis bore the dead on its wings across the Nile to the afterlife's "field of plenty" in Egyptian mythology.
The ibis is a wading bird that lives along the Nile River banks, feeding on grain fields and marshes. The ibis escapes the river's dangers, the crocodiles, snakes, and floods, by flying to safety. Egyptians observed the ibis in this habitat, and symbolically incorporated its attributes into Egyptian mythology. The ibis represented safe crossing of and nourishment from the Nile in the afterlife. By incorporating the ibis' attributes and environment into religious rites, humans organized the natural and human world into one.
Locations
- (not entered) Iowa State University, Brunnier Main Storage
