Statue of an Egyptian Mongoose as a Manifestation of Atum in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2026

Title: Statue of an Egyptian mongoose as a manifestation of Atum

Period: Late Period

Date: 664‒525 BCE or 390‒343 BCE

Medium: Greywacke

Dimensions: 10.5 × 6.3 × 27.9 cm, 2.1 kg (4 1/8 × 2 1/2 × 11 in., 4.7 lb.)

Credit Line: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection (1062)

Object No.: DE.125

Delicately rendered, the Egyptian mongoose rests its head protectively on an obelisk-shaped object. A vertical inscription connects the animal to Atum, "the ka [vital spirit] of Heliopolis, who resides in the Enclosure of the Sycomore." The mongoose is connected with the creator god Atum and other solar deities such as Re. This tie likely relates to its ability to hunt snakes, some of which rank among the sun’s chief enemies.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/divine-egypt/exhibition-objects