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An Egyptian black steatite cippus fragment image 1
An Egyptian black steatite cippus fragment image 2
Lot 121*

An Egyptian black steatite cippus fragment

Antiquities
7 July 2016, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

£5,000 - £7,000

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An Egyptian black steatite cippus fragment
Ptolemaic Period, 30th Dynasty, circa 400 B.C.
Preserving the lower section, including Horus's feet standing on two crocodiles, the god holding a lion and a serpent in his left hand, hieroglyphic text inscribed throughout, on the front of the base the text reads, '...the king(?) ...(determinative of personal name?)...; face(?) /upon(?)... of(?) ...Latopolis(?), Eye(?) of Dendra; ...poisonous snake(?), disease-demon(?)...;' to the right of the lion, 'Lector-priest(?)... sacred(?)...;' between the lion and the serpent's tail, 'The lion is slaughtered(?) beside you'; to the left of Horus, 'Horus(?)...;' on the back preserving a rectangular panel with an incised figure of a hippopotamus goddess and a crocodile, with rows of text reading: '...the daughter of Re...; ...present (verb); ...one/only(?), the Fierce of Face(?)...; ...Horus(?)...on account of the name of Osiris... of the god... (the god has protected?)... the town, effective(?); ...opponent ...not(?) ...; ...all(?) ...'; one edge reading, 'of the city, this which you have done for poison(?) of the Great God;' the other reading, 'against me(?), there is not (?) a violent one, a slaughterer, an opponent(?),'
14cm high

Footnotes

Provenance:
The Harer Family Trust Collection, acquired in 2008.
Christie's, New York, 04 June 2008, lot 20 (part).
Gustave Jequier (1868-1946) Collection, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Thence by descent to his niece.

Literature:
The text is typical of those found on cippi, invoking magic to protect the cippus owner from various creatures. There is a similar example in the Brooklyn Museum, R.A. Fazzini et. al., Ancient Egyptian Art in the Brooklyn Museum, New York, 1989, no.88, acc. no. 60.73.

Additional information

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