Title: Aegis with the head of a goddess

Period: Third Intermediate Period–Late Period

Date: ca. 924–600 BCE

Medium: Cupreous metal; stone, paint

Dimensions: H. 22.5 × W. 18 cm (8 7/8 × 7 1/16 in.)

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1948

Object No.: 48.73

An Egyptian aegis consists of the head of an important deity above a stylized broad collar (wesekh). This example wears a vulture headdress capped by a ring of rearing cobras. Aegises first appeared during the reign of Hatshepsut, Egypt’s longest-ruling female pharaoh, decorating the sacred barque of Amun. The two loops on the aegis indicate that it was originally attached to a keyhole-shaped counterweight typical of ritual menit necklaces, which were shaken by women to make music in ceremonies.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/divine-egypt/exhibition-objects