Translated Egyptian Limestone Panel w/ Painted Glyphs

Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, 26th to 31st Dynasty, ca. 664 to 332 BCE. A beautifully preserved limestone panel fragment carved in negative relief, of an oblong form with a smooth left wall. The smooth obverse face is meticulously carved with one full and three partial hieroglyphic symbols: a full cobra with a raised head and slender tail; a ; blue reed; a slender staff with a slightly flared top; and a horizontal bar with a diagonal protrusion on the right side, perhaps a minimalist arm. Lovely layers of original pigment adorn each of the hieroglyphic symbols with an orange-and-red scheme for the cobra, blue on the feather and upper 'arm' protrusion, and solid red for the neck of the 'bottle.' While the inscription is fragmentary, it translates as "dd mdw in," meaning "words spoken by" or "words to be said." Size: 4.75" W x 5.125" H (12.1 cm x 13 cm); 6.6" H (16.8 cm) on included custom stand.

According to scholar Dorothea Arnold, "Cobras, the best known of Egypt's many snakes, are also among the most impressive. Their raised threat posture and the way some of the species spit venom are thoroughly intimidating. The ancient Egyptians were so fascinated by these behaviors that they adopted the cobra as a mythical snake. The uraeus, as it was called in Greek, sat on the foreheads of pharaohs and guarded the roofs of holy shrines with awe-inspiring aggressiveness." (Arnold, Dorothea. "An Egyptian Bestiary." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Spring 1995, Vol. LII, no. 4, p. 43)

A stylistically similar example with painted hieroglyphs, of a larger size, hammered for $10,625 at Christie's, New York "Antiquities" auction (sale 2856, June 5, 2014, lot 16).

Provenance: private J.H. collection, Beaverton, Oregon, USA; ex-Tom Cederlind collection, Oregon, USA

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#149624
Condition Report: This is a fragment of a larger limestone panel with chips and losses to peripheries as shown. Minor abrasions to obverse and verso, with fading to areas of original pigmentation, and softening to some finer details. Wonderful traces of original pigment within each hieroglyph.