Pendant of Egyptian god Nefertum
Υ593
Faience
Mended, preserved almost intact
Height: 6.3 cm.
Kommos
Temple Β
Geometric - Early Archaic period:
8th-7th c. BC:
Gallery:
XVII
Case:
181
Exhibition thematic unit:
Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th - 4th c. BC). The Sanctuaries. From Minoan cult to the amalgamation of religious beliefs
Sanctuaries
Description
On this Nefertum pendant, the god is standing with one foot forward and hands down at thigh level. He is wearing a false beard and an elaborate wig with a uraeus at the front. The suspension hole through the top of the head is broken. The figurine was found in Temple B at Kommos, known as the Tripillar Shrine. Next to it was the figurine of the goddess Sekhmet (see Υ 593), Nefertum’s mother. Together with his father, Ptah, they form the Memphis Triad. The pendant was probably made by an Egyptian workshop and its presence in a Cretan sanctuary attests to contacts between the two regions.
Bibliography:
Shaw J.W., “Excavations at Kommos (Crete) during 1979”, Hesperia 49, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Athens, 1980, 207-250.
Stampolidis N. Chr. - Karetsou Α. (ed.), Ανατολική Μεσόγειος, Κύπρος-Δωδεκάνησα-Κρήτη, 16ος-6ος αι. π.Χ., Heraklion, 1998, 221.
Karetsou A. - Andreaki-Vlazaki M., Crete-Egypt, Three thousand years of cultural links, Herakleion-Cairo, 2001, 353.
Author:
S. P.
Photographs' metadata