This is a very high quality bronze, once in the famous collection of Leo Mildenberg, and published.
Depicted is the god Banebdjedet ("Ram of the Lord of Mendes"), standing with his left legs slightly advanced and his head lifted and turned slightly to the right. The animal has a wonderful face with a mouth that seems to be smiling, floppy ears and blankly staring eyes. A so-called hemhem crown is visible on top of its head. The coat of coarse hair, arranged in patterned rows of thick, loose waves, was formed in the mold.
The subject of this statuette is clearly Egyptian but, in the words of Kozloff (1981), the naturalistic movement is singularly Roman. The even patterning of the animal’s coarse hair suggests a provincial provenance. It is possible that the bronze was made by a Roman artist in Egypt, but it is more likely that the cult of the god was carried to a distant part of the empire and influenced the creation of this bronze.
The collection of Leo Mildenberg was sold in October 2004 by Christie's London (sale 7017). This statuette was lot 149 in the sale, and carried an estimate up to GBP 6,000, which was more than € 10,000 including BP them, almost a decade ago.
The animal was sacred in Mendes in dynastic times, and was usually depicted as a ram, although there are also depictions where he has a human body. In Greek and Roman times he was represented as a he-goat, relating him to the then popular classical god Pan. It has been suggested that the goat was perhaps a more familiar symbol of fertility to the Greeks than the Egyptian ram (Gwyn Griffiths, 1955).
Classical authors like Herodotus and Pindar tell us that women from Mendes had sexual intercourse with he-goats; Clemens Alexandrinus and Plutarch however inform us that the sacred goat preferred she-goats to beautiful women.
In traditional Egyptian mythology the god was considered to be the ba (often incorrectly translated as "soul") of Osiris and of Re; there were especially solar associations. Banebdjedet was also associated with other gods. A sistrum which mentions Ptolemy II carries the text: "the august sistrum gives praise to the Lord of heaven, the Foremost of the temple: Amun, the Ram of Mendes" (Van Siclen, 1985, p. 228-229). And the first pylon of the temple of Medinet Habu (exterior face of the south tower) has a text in which the god Ptah-Tatenen addresses king Ramesses III with the words: "I am thy father, I begot thee, so that thy entire body is of the gods, for I assumed my form as the Ram, the Lord of Mendes" (Medinet Habu, 1932; Edgerton - Wilson, 1936; Gardiner, 1931).
Already the Middle Kingdom coffin texts contain references to the god, and also a a statue of Amenemhat I found at Tell el-Dab`a carries a dedication to Banebdjedet (Gauthier, 1934; Habachi, 1954; Ryholt, 1997). In spell 42 of the Book of the Dead the body parts of the deceased are identified with various gods; the arms are equalled to Banebdjedet. It was also Banebdjedet who was asked by Atum to separate (or judge between) Horus and Seth in their conflict (Broze, 1996).
1st - 2nd century C.E.
Arielle P. Kozloff (ed.), Animals in Ancient Art from the Leo Mildenberg Collection (Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1981), p. 74-75, no. 63.
Susan Redford - Donald B. Redford, "The Cult and Necropolis of the Sacred Ram at Mendes" in Salima Ikram (ed.), Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt (Cairo, American University in Cairo Press, 2005), p. 164-198.
For the problem of the ram versus the goat:
J. Gwyn Griffiths, "The Orders of Gods in Greece and Egypt (According to Herodotus)", Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 75, (1955), pp. 21-23.
For the association between Banebdjedet and Amun:
Charles C. Van Siclen, III, "Review of Catalogue des Instruments de Musique Égyptiens by Christiane Ziegler" in Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 22, (1985), pp. 228-229.
For the connection of Banebdjedet with Ptah-Tatenen:
Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, Volume II, Later Historical Records of Ramses III (Oriental Institute Publications, 9) (Chicago, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago Press, 1932), pl. 105, line 3-4.
William F. Edgerton - John A. Wilson, Historical Records of Ramses III. The Texts in Medinet Habu, Volumes I and II, Translated with Explanatory Notes (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization, 12) (Chicago, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago Press, 1936), p. 120-121.
Alan H. Gardiner, The Chester Beatty Papyri No. I (London, 1931), p. 14, n. 7, and p. 15, n. 2.
Banebdjedet on a statue from the Middle Kingdom:
Henri Gauthier, "Une nouvelle statue d’Amenemhet Ier", Mélanges Maspero I (MIFAO, 66) (Le Caire, IFAO, 1934), p. 43-53, pls. 1-2;
Labib Habachi, "Khata`na-Qantir: Importance", Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte 52 (1954), p. 453, pl. V;
Kim S. B. Ryholt, The Political Situation in Egypt During the Second Intermediate Period, c. 1800-1550 B.C. (Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications, 20) (Copenhagen, Museum Tusculanum Press, 1997) p. 134, n. 471.
For examples of the traditional, Egyptian ways of depicting the god:
S. R. K. Glanville, "An Egyptian Figure of a Ram and Other Objects", The British Museum Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 4 (1933), p. 123-124 and pl. XXXIXa (a glass figure);
Kenneth A. Kitchen, "Two Donation Stelae in The Brooklyn Museum", Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 8, (1969-1970), p. 59-67, esp. fig. 1 (depicted with a human body on a stela).
For the role of Banebdjedet in the trial between Horus and Seth:
Michèle Broze, Les aventures d'Horus et Seth dans le Papyrus Chester Beatty I: mythe et roman en Égypte ancienne (Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta, 76) (Leuven, Peeters Publishers, 1996), p. 30.
Height 7.5 cm, length 6.2 cm.
Leo Mildenberg collection; Christie's London, sale 7017 of 26 October 2004, lot 149.
Part of the right horn and plume tips broken from the crown, else in excellent condition with a dark green patina; an inventory number from the Mildenberg collection painted underneath. A statuette of extremely high quality.