The Snake Goddess Meretseger "She who Loves Silence"
Sandstone, New Kingdom, Dyn. 18, ca 1479-1400 B.C.E. or later
Provenance not known, probably from around Thebes
Brooklyn #37.1749E, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
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The Snake Goddess Meretseger "She who Loves Silence" Sandstone, New Kingdom, Dyn. 18, ca 1479-1400 B.C.E. or later Provenance not known, probably from around Thebes Brooklyn #37.1749E, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund |
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"In the temple of Hathor excavation has uncovered the statue of another female divinity who was sometimes identified as a form of Hathor - the snake-goddess Meretseger. Her cult was a particularly local worship and was especially strong at Deir el-Medina. She was associated with the great peak, now known as El-Qurn, which dominated the west bank area and whose slope was covered in shrines. She was often depicted in the guise of a cobra, of which there must have been numerous living examples on the west bank." _The Tomb-builders of the Pharaohs_ by M. L. Bierbrier, page 88 Befitting her title ‘Dehenet Imentet’ (‘Peak of the West'), note how this statue has a peak shaped silhouette from the side. |
