Relief of Ptolemy I offering to Hathor
Ptolemaic Period, reign of Ptolemy I, 305–282 B.C.E.
From Kom Abu Billo (Terenuthis)
Limestone, H x W: 36 x 128 x 18cm (14 3/16 x 50 3/8 x 7 1/16in.)
Egypt Exploration Fund 1889, MFA #89.559
Photos ©Joan Ann Lansberry, 2014
"Ptolemy I built a temple to the goddess Hathor at Kom Abu Billo (Tarrana), in the western Nile Delta. When the site was discovered in 1887, the temple had vanished, but a few decorated blocks still survived, re-used in the buildings of a nearby village. Carved in exquisite low relief, they rank among the finest examples of early Ptolemaic art. Here, with a graceful gesture, the king offers the goddess a bowl of flaming incense." (From info card)
"The founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty is shown offering incense to the goddess in a small brazier complete with two incense pellets and a wisp of smoke. Hathor holds a wand in the shape of a papyrus stalk. The word for papyrus also meant 'green', which was therefore written with a hieroglyph representing a papyrus plant." (From museum website)
Wadj Scepter
'Green' and 'flourishing' = wadj)
EA 649 (Registration number 1889,0507.1)
Photo © The Trustees of the British Museum
"Limestone temple-relief of Ptolemy I offering to Hathor: Ptolemy I wears a bag wig and a single string of beads, and presents to Hathor the heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively a lily-like sedge and a papyrus. The plants, which are rendered as stiff little baubles, may well depict royal gifts to the temple, made of gold and other precious materials. Hathor holds the papyrus scepter of a goddess and wears a vulture cap, topped by a platform that supported her emblematic cow horns and sun disk. Traces of paint survive." (Museum website description)
For examination purposes, I created a montage of various close up photos found at the museum website. It perhaps works best at full size:
