Bronze Statuette of a Shrew

Culture: Egyptian

Period: 3rd Intermediate Period, 21st-22nd dynasty, 1085-713 B.C.

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: 7 cm long

Price: Sold

Ref: 1307

Provenance: French private collection Bourgade-Maturana, acquired in the 1970s. Accompagnied by a French antiquities passport.

Condition: The tail broken, otherwise intact.

Description: Massive bronze statuette of a shrew with a long snout, small, engraved eyes and large protruding ears. The shrew stands on its stretched out legs on a bronze base, which is inscribed on one side. The inscription reads a text of resurrection “to guarantee life in the afterlife”. Winged sun deities are engraved on the back of the animal. The shrew as a nocturnal animal is considered as holy with the ancient Egyptians because, despite being blind, it was able to see and always found its way. Hence also the shrew lead the nocturnal journey of the sun, which lasted until the sixth hour of the night. The animal also stood as Horus’ manifestation, who immersed as a shrew into the darkness of the afterlife to reanimate his deceased father Osiris.