New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2007.

Votive offering table

Artist Unknown

CultureEgyptian

DatePtolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.E.

MediumBronze

DimensionsOverall: 3 1/4 x 2 5/8 in. (8.3 x 6.7 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2217.21

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 109

DescriptionThin flat rectangular object in the shape of an offering table, with a rise rim around the plate and a spout in the middle of one of the long sides. The central plate is decorated with loaves of bread, a ewer and flowers in low relief. On the side opposite the spout are two loops with widely curved bronze wires through them. Several little figures are disposed around the plate:; - A kneeling human figure opposite the spout, turned toward the central plate and the spout. He's wearing a long skirt and a long hair.; - A frog sitting astride the runnel of the spout, looking toward its mouth.; - Two lions along the front edge, on either side of the spout. They're both lying on their left side with their pawns crossed before them, looking in the same direction as the human figure and the frog.; - Two apes sitting on either side of the human figure, at the angles of the plate. They're wearing sun-disks upon their heads.; - One falcon on the edge on the right of the kneeling figure, with a sun-disk on its head. Probably another one used to be at the same place on the opposite side.; - A pair of pillar-like structures between the human figure and each ape.;

Label TextVotive Offering Table Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 B.C.E. Bronze Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2217.21 This tiny votive object takes the shape of an offering table, its central surface decorated in low relief with images of flowers, a ewer, and loaves of bread. Such objects were probably presented at the temple as a sign of religious devotion. Quite possibly they were part of a ceremony in which the faithful poured liquids on them from situlae, ritual buckets used to hold water, milk, or other libations. The figures perched around the table are typical of the form and may allude to the solar cult of the sun god Re and the notion of spiritual rebirth. At the top edge a man (pouring libations?) kneels toward the table's spout. He is flanked by tall, pillar-like objects that may be loaves of bread. Beyond them, at the corners, are apes wearing sun-disks on their heads. The falcon at the left edge also wears a sun disk. At the front, flanking the spout, are reclining lions, symbols of Re's son Shu and daughter Tefnut. And finally the frog sitting atop the spout is a traditional Egyptian symbol of renewal and rebirth.