Lion-Headed Deity with Cobra Headdress

Egyptian sculptors employed bronze and precious metals as well as stone and wood. The art of bronzecasting reached new heights in the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070–712 BCE), when statues and statuettes were embellished with intricate inlays of precious metal or were partly overlaid with gold. These two lion-headed deities may be assigned to the subsequent 26th, Saite dynasty. Like the bronze falcon nearby, they served a votive purpose, and might have contained sacrificed ichneumons (Egyptian mongooses). The female figure on the left, identified by an inscription as the goddess Wadjet, wears a long dress and a crown composed of two tall feathers and a sun disk between cow horns. Her throne is incised with a Horus falcon and lion-headed figures. Though most feline deities are female, the other bronze, crowned by a cobra, is recognizable as male by its short kilt. The pierced hands of both statues once held attributes, such as scepters.