This distinctive example is one of a huge number of figurines of the gods cast in copper alloy. Although the lioness-headed goddess is often identified as Sekhmet, these votive objects depicted the goddess Wadjet, who was associated with the Delta. In her serpent form, she is often paired with the vulture Nekhbet, as the ‘Two Ladies’, representing Upper and Lower Egypt – and indeed it is possible to distinguish Wadjet from Sekhmet by the prominent serpent on her head. Serpents were, in general, associated with female divinities: threatening but also potentially protective, like lions.
Here the goddess stands in front of an obelisk-shaped box, sometimes referred to as a ‘reliquary’ – although the association between this term and the receptacle in which the sacred relics of Christian saints are kept is somewhat misleading. While very clearly a solar symbol, the obelisk has associations not only with permanence and monumentality, but also with the idea of ‘dedication’, so it is appropriate that it should form part of an object given as a votive gift to a deity. That purpose is made clear in a hieroglyphic inscription naming the donor (‘given life’ in return for the donation) on the front of the base.
It seems to be a particular feature of such objects associated with Wadjet that they are often hollow. They were evidently intended to contain mummified material, in some sense enhancing the association with divinity, and thereby the power of the object. But this is where modern classifications for objects fail to reflect ancient conceptions: this statuette is at once a coffin, a figurine and an animal mummy – all means of capturing, creating, and perpetuating a physical manifestation of divinity. Objects like this were so imbued with divine energy that they could not simply be thrown away. Large numbers were gathered together and buried in the sacred precincts of temples, enabling them to function – albeit unseen by human eyes – for eternity. This is probably the reason that this example is so finely preserved.
Protected places and prehistoric pints