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Head of a ram
Nubian
Classic Kerma
1700–1550 B.C.
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Kerma, Tumulus K III
Medium/Technique
Glazed quartz
Dimensions
Height x width x thickness: 9.4 x 10.6 x 8.3 cm (3 11/16 x 4 3/16 x 3 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number20.1180
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionAnimal figures of blue-glazed quartz are particular to Kerma artwork. This ram's head, whose blue glaze has almost totally disappeared, still exhibits on the left side the tip of a horn winding around the ear. This type of horn was emblematic of the ram form of the god Amun, later attested in Egypt during the New Kingdom. It is now generally thought that Amun probably adopted his ram form from the kingdom of Kerma.
Because of the absence of writing in the Kerma Culture, no identification of this supposed indigenous Nubian ram god is possible. The great significance of the ram in the religious conceptions at Kerma, however, is impressively displayed in the outfitting of tombs with sacrificial rams with elaborately decorated horns and spherical crowns of ostrich feathers affixed to their heads.
Because of the absence of writing in the Kerma Culture, no identification of this supposed indigenous Nubian ram god is possible. The great significance of the ram in the religious conceptions at Kerma, however, is impressively displayed in the outfitting of tombs with sacrificial rams with elaborately decorated horns and spherical crowns of ostrich feathers affixed to their heads.
ProvenanceFrom Kerma, Tum. K III, Comp. 17/3. December, 1913: excavated by the Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; 1920: assigned to the MFA by the government of the Sudan.
CopyrightPhotographer: Jurgen Liepe