Archaeology & Antiquities
Weight in the Form of a Hippopotamus Head
Details
- Author / creator
- Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18
- Object type
- Archaeology
- Date or period
- c. 1540–1296 BCE
- Dimensions summary
- Overall: 2.2 × 3 × 4.2 cm
- Site or findspot
- Hierakonpolis, Egypt
- Cultural period
- Ancient
- Place of origin
- Egypt
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the Founder's Endowment, 1992
- Image rights
- Public domain (CC0)
About this object
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, representing eight seniu or two-thirds of a deben, and is equivalent of an Aegean unit of 62.1 grams.
Materials and technique
Hematite
