Ibis Statuette, On Wood Base
date: label: Accession Date
content: 16 Feb 1956
name: label: Donor Name
content: President Dwight D. Eisenhower
label: Site Name
content: Tuna El-Gebel (Hermapolis Magna)
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Depicts a squatting ibis, with head erect. Body is of unidentified hardwood, with fore-edge of wings indicated; neck, head and beak, as well as legs, are of bronze, hollow cast: neck is cemented into body, and legs are dowelled into the wood; bronze shell recessed into wood forms a tail piece; feet and heels with tenons for attachment to (modern) wood base; insets (?) missing from both eyes. Card on base incl. following: "Ibis representing God Thot (Zehouti) god of wisdom and science, who corresponds to the Greek Hermes. He was god of Kemenu, the capital of the XVth province of Upper-Egypt (now Acshmounein in Middle Egypt) to which the Greeks gave the name of Hermopolis Magna. This statue was found with many others in the underground galleries at Tuna el-Gebel to the West of Acshmounein. Tuna was the necropolis of this great city. Late excavations led to the discovery of a series of galleries containing a big collection of mummified ibises and statues of the same bird in different materials." Lent to C.A.L. 2/2/90. Returned 2/12/90. Radiographs made at C.A.L. Copies available in Anth. Conservation Lab. 1978 NMNH slide set caption: Ibis Figure, bronze and wooden, freestanding, represents Thot, god of wisdom and science, Egyptian, Upper Nile at Tuna-el-Gebel necropolis, gift to museum by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Note re photos: Negative # 78-8772 is profile, lt, overview. 78-8773 is 3/4, lt, overview.
label: Notes
content: From NMNH Exhibit Hall "Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt" label for this artifact, 2011: Ibis coffin, 332-30 B.C. This bronze and wood coffin probably sat on a base that held an ibis mummy.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 21 Apr 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
culture: label: Culture
content: Ancient Egyptian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 209497
label: USNM Number
content: A413975-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Coffin