← Archives/Archaeology & Antiquity98 Archival Relics

The Museum of Antiquities

Tangible physical artifacts connecting living mythology to ancient archaeology. Curated from world-renowned archaeological institutions with verified provenance, accession records, and primary-source linkage.

Ancient Culture / Origin

Material / Medium

Showing 98 of 98 relics

Italicca. 3rd–1st century BCE

Bronze statuette of Herakles

Bronze

An Italic representation of the hero. The museum places it among statuettes showing Herakles advancing with club and bow; it does not identify a particular labour.

Acc: 96.9.432Museum Record

Roman1st half of 1st century CE

Marble relief fragment with scenes from the Trojan War

Palombino marble

This small relief belongs to the tabulae iliacae, which depict Trojan War scenes. The museum identifies a signature by Theodoros on the reverse. It documents Roman engagement with the story, not an event from the war.

Acc: 24.97.11Museum Record

Italian, Rome1804–6

Perseus with the Head of Medusa

Marble

Canova's sculpture presents Perseus holding Medusa's head. Made in the early nineteenth century, it shows the myth's later artistic reception rather than an ancient depiction.

Acc: 67.110.1Museum Record

Bronze figure of Osiris with a tall crown and arms crossed over the torso. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, Late Period664–332 BCE

Statuette of Osiris

Leaded bronze

This figure shows Osiris in mummy form with the crook and flail of kingship. It provides evidence for his representation in Egyptian religious art, rather than depicting the full account of his death and restoration.

Acc: 61.45Museum Record

Copper-alloy foundation figure of a man holding a basket above his head. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Neo-Sumerianca. 2112–2095 BCE

Foundation figure of Ur-Namma holding a basket

Copper alloy

The inscription identifies this figure with a temple of Inanna built or restored by Ur-Namma. It shows the ruler, not Inanna, and provides context for her worship rather than illustrating her descent to the underworld.

Acc: 47.49Museum Record

Yoruba peoples, Nigeria19th–20th century

Ibeji Twin Figure

Wood, beads, camwood powder, pigment

The museum connects ere ibeji figures with care for a deceased twin. This object supports the page’s discussion of remembrance; it is not evidence for the origin episode formerly published here.

Acc: 1979.527.22Museum Record

Terracotta hydria with a painted mythological frieze including Hecate. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, South Italian, Apulianca. 340–330 BCE

Terracotta hydria (water jar)

Terracotta

A South Italian water jar whose painted frieze the museum tags as showing Hecate alongside Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, and Eros. It documents her place among the Olympian company in fourth-century Apulian vase painting.

Acc: 07.128.1Museum Record

Illustrated folio showing Rama and Lakshmana searching a forest landscape for Sita. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

India, Rajasthan, Mewarca. 1680–90

Rama and Lakshmana Search in Vain for Sita: Illustrated folio from a dispersed Ramayana series

Ink and opaque watercolor on paper

A Rajasthani manuscript illustration from a dispersed Ramayana series showing Rama and Lakshmana searching for Sita after her abduction. It reflects the story's reception in Mewar court painting rather than an ancient attestation.

Acc: 1974.148Museum Record

India, Coromandel Coastlate 18th century

The Combat of Rama and Ravana

Painted and mordant-dyed cotton

A painted and dyed cotton hanging from the Coromandel Coast depicting the battle between Rama and Ravana. The museum's own title names both figures directly.

Acc: 2008.163Museum Record

Illustrated folio showing the demon Marichi speaking with Ravana. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

India (Himachal Pradesh, Kangra)ca. 1780

The Demon Marichi Tries to Dissuade Ravana; Illustrated folio from a dispersed Ramayana series

Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper

A Kangra-school folio from a dispersed Ramayana series showing the demon Marichi trying to talk Ravana out of his plan. The museum's title names Ravana explicitly as the recipient of the advice.

Acc: 1985.398.14Museum Record

Lapis lazuli statuette of the mummiform god Ptah holding a staff. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, Third Intermediate Period–Late Periodca. 945–600 BCE

Cult Image of the God Ptah

Lapis lazuli

A lapis lazuli statuette identified by the museum as a cult image of Ptah, shown in his standard mummiform pose holding a staff. Small images like this were placed in shrines or temples as votive offerings.

Acc: 2007.24Museum Record

Egyptian, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period664–30 BCE

Ptah

Cupreous metal

A cast metal statuette the museum catalogs simply as Ptah, showing the god's characteristic close-fitting cap and mummiform body. Votive figures of this type were mass-produced for temple donation in the Late Period.

Acc: 04.2.408Museum Record

Egyptian, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period664–30 BCE

Amun

Cupreous metal

A cast metal statuette the museum identifies simply as Amun, wearing the god's characteristic tall plumed crown. Figures like this were dedicated at temples as personal acts of devotion.

Acc: 04.2.451Museum Record

Gold statuette of the god Amun standing in a striding pose. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, Third Intermediate Periodca. 945–721 BCE

Statuette of Amun

Gold

A gold statuette of Amun standing in a striding pose, tagged by the museum as depicting the god by name. Gold examples like this were rarer and costlier votive or funerary offerings than the more common bronze figures.

Acc: 26.7.1412Museum Record

Granodiorite head from a temple statue of the god Amun. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, New Kingdom, post-Amarna Periodca. 1328–1318 BCE

Head of the god Amun

Granodiorite

A granodiorite head from a statue of Amun, dated by the museum to the years after the Amarna Period when his cult was restored to prominence. The scale of the stone points to an original temple statue rather than a personal votive.

Acc: 07.228.34Museum Record

Faience amulet in the form of the protective dwarf god Bes. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, Late Period664–332 BCE

Bes amulet

Faience

A faience amulet of the dwarf god Bes, tagged by the museum with his name. Bes amulets were worn for protection, especially of households, women in childbirth, and children.

Acc: 89.2.326Museum Record

Carved stone healing stela (the Metternich Stela) showing Horus the Child flanked by protective deities including Bes. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, Late Period360–343 BCE

Magical Stela with Horus the Child

Metagraywacke

The Metternich Stela, a magical healing stela carved with spells against venomous bites; the museum tags it with figures including Bes and Horus the Child, whose image dominates the front. Owners would pour water over the inscribed surface and drink the water as a cure.

Acc: 50.85Museum Record

Painted papyrus fragment showing deities including Shu riding in a solar boat. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, Late Period or later664 BCE or later

Papyrus fragment with a painting of Khepri, Shu, Tefnut, Thoth, and Isis in a solar boat

Papyrus, ink

A fragment from a funerary papyrus painted with a scene of deities in a solar boat; the museum's own title lists Shu among the figures depicted, alongside Khepri, Tefnut, Thoth, and Isis.

Acc: 31.3.130Museum Record

Glazed steatite cowroid seal-amulet naming the gods Re, Shu, and Tefnut. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, New Kingdom–Third Intermediate Periodca. 1550–664 BCE

Cowroid with Outward-facing Merged Lions and Sun Disk

Glazed steatite

A glazed steatite cowroid seal whose inscription and design the museum catalogs as invoking Re, Shu, and Tefnut alongside a sun disk and lions. It served as an amuletic seal rather than a temple image.

Acc: 04.2.791Museum Record

Plaster cast reproduction of the cuneiform Flood Tablet from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mesopotamian19th century, after 7th century BCE original

Cast reconstruction of Babylonian Flood Tablet

Plaster

A nineteenth-century plaster cast reproducing the Babylonian Flood Tablet, the Gilgamesh Epic tablet in which Utnapishtim recounts surviving the great flood. The cast documents how the deciphered tablet circulated among museums after its 1872 translation, not an ancient depiction of Utnapishtim himself.

Acc: 87.33.21Museum Record

Terracotta column-krater with a painted scene including Zeus. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, Atticca. 460 BCE

Terracotta column-krater (vase for mixing wine and water)

Terracotta

An Attic column-krater whose painted scene the museum tags as including Zeus among other figures. Large mixing vessels like this were used at the symposium, the Greek drinking party where mythological imagery was common.

Acc: 96.19.1Museum Record

Terracotta neck-amphora with a painted scene of Zeus. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, Atticca. 460–450 BCE

Terracotta Nolan neck-amphora (jar)

Terracotta

An Attic neck-amphora whose painted figure the museum's record tags as Zeus, together with a bow and arrow, an unusual attribute for him. Nolan amphorae like this were a favored shape for single mythological figures in the Classical period.

Acc: 96.18.74Museum Record

Fragments of a marble sarcophagus with a relief frieze including a figure of Hera. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Roman3rd quarter of 3rd century CE

Marble sarcophagus with the contest between the Muses and the Sirens

Marble, Pentelic

Fragments of a Roman marble sarcophagus carved with the contest between the Muses and the Sirens; the museum's tags list Hera among the figures on the surrounding frieze. The relief shows how Greek mythological subjects continued to furnish Roman funerary art centuries later.

Acc: 10.104Museum Record

Bronze statuette of a striding god, possibly Poseidon. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek3rd–2nd century BCE

Bronze statuette of a god, possibly Poseidon

Bronze

A Hellenistic bronze statuette the museum identifies as possibly depicting Poseidon, shown in a striding pose that would originally have held an attribute such as a trident. The tentative identification reflects how sea deities and river gods shared similar iconography.

Acc: 26.60.65Museum Record

Terracotta hydria with a painted scene of Poseidon and seahorses. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, Attic1st quarter of the 4th century BCE

Terracotta hydria: kalpis (water jar)

Terracotta

An Attic water jar painted with a scene the museum tags as showing Poseidon among seahorses. The imagery reflects his domain over the sea on a vessel shape used for carrying water.

Acc: 21.88.162Museum Record

Terracotta kylix with a painted battle scene including Poseidon. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, Atticca. 540 BCE

Terracotta kylix (drinking cup)

Terracotta

An Archaic Attic drinking cup painted with a battle scene the museum tags as including Poseidon among warriors, horses, and an Iliad-related subject. Poseidon's involvement in the Trojan War appears throughout the Iliad.

Acc: 1989.281.62Museum Record

Bronze statuette of the helmeted goddess Athena. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Romanca. 2nd–3rd century CE

Bronze statuette of Athena

Bronze

A Roman bronze statuette the museum catalogs simply as Athena, shown helmeted in her role as goddess of war and wisdom. Small bronzes like this circulated widely as household or votive images across the Roman world.

Acc: 74.51.5578Museum Record

Bronze statuette of Athena with her owl in flight. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greekca. 460 BCE

Bronze statuette of Athena flying her owl

Bronze

A Classical Greek bronze statuette the museum titles as Athena flying her owl, her sacred bird and symbol of wisdom. The pairing of goddess and owl was one of her most recognizable attributes in Greek art.

Acc: 50.11.1Museum Record

Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora with a painted figure of Athena. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, Atticca. 510 BCE

Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora (jar)

Terracotta

An Archaic Panathenaic prize amphora, the type of vessel filled with olive oil and awarded to victors at the Panathenaic Games in Athens; the museum tags its painted side as showing Athena, the festival's patron goddess.

Acc: 07.286.80Museum Record

Bronze statuette of the god Apollo. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greekca. 500 BCE

Bronze statuette of Apollo

Bronze

A Classical Greek bronze statuette the museum catalogs as Apollo. Bronze figurines of the god were common votive gifts at his sanctuaries.

Acc: 07.286.91Museum Record

Roman1st–2nd century CE

Bronze statuette of Apollo

Bronze

A Roman bronze statuette the museum titles as Apollo with a quiver, referencing his role as archer god. Roman households and shrines used small bronzes like this for private devotion.

Acc: 96.9.401Museum Record

Bronze statuette of the goddess Artemis. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek3rd–1st century BCE

Bronze statuette of Artemis

Bronze

A Hellenistic bronze statuette the museum catalogs as Artemis, goddess of the hunt and wilderness. Figures of this type were common temple and household dedications.

Acc: 1980.303.3Museum Record

Bronze bust of the goddess Artemis. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Roman1st half of the 1st century CE

Bronze bust of Artemis

Bronze

A Roman bronze bust the museum identifies as Artemis. Portrait-style busts of deities were used as decorative fittings as well as objects of devotion.

Acc: 49.21.2Museum Record

Marble statuette of the goddess Aphrodite. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek3rd–2nd century BCE

Marble statuette of Aphrodite

Marble

A Hellenistic Greek marble statuette the museum catalogs as Aphrodite. Small-scale marble statuettes of the goddess were popular for private display in the Hellenistic period.

Acc: 42.201.9Museum Record

Marble statue of Aphrodite in a crouching pose. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Roman1st or 2nd century CE

Marble statue of a crouching Aphrodite

Marble, Parian ?

A Roman marble statue the museum identifies as a crouching Aphrodite, a popular type derived from a lost Hellenistic original showing the goddess bathing. The crouching pose was copied widely across the Roman world.

Acc: 09.221.1Museum Record

Bronze statuette of the god Hermes. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek or Roman1st century BCE–2nd century CE

Bronze statuette of Hermes

Bronze

A bronze statuette the museum catalogs as Hermes, messenger god and patron of travelers and trade. Its Greek-or-Roman dating reflects how the type continued across the transition between the two cultures.

Acc: 97.22.1Museum Record

Terracotta jug in the form of the head of Dionysos. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek or Roman1st century BCE

Terracotta jug in the form of Dionysos

Terracotta

A terracotta jug shaped as the head of Dionysos, tagged by the museum with his name. Vessels formed as deity heads were a specialty of Hellenistic pottery workshops.

Acc: 42.11.46Museum Record

Terracotta column-krater with a painted scene of Dionysos, maenads, and satyrs. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, Atticca. 550 BCE

Terracotta column-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)

Terracotta

An Archaic Attic mixing bowl painted with a scene the museum tags as showing Dionysos with maenads and satyrs, his usual retinue of ecstatic followers. Vessels of this shape mixed wine and water at the symposium, fitting for imagery of the wine god.

Acc: 31.11.11Museum Record

Marble relief fragments from the Great Eleusinian Relief showing Demeter and Persephone. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Romanca. 27 BCE–14 CE

Ten marble fragments of the Great Eleusinian Relief

Marble

Fragments of the Great Eleusinian Relief, a Roman marble copy of a lost Greek original; the museum's tags identify Demeter and Persephone among the figures. The relief reflects imagery from the Eleusinian Mysteries, the cult centered on Demeter and her daughter.

Acc: 14.130.9Museum Record

Roman1st–2nd century CE

Bronze statuette of Jupiter Capitolinus

Bronze

A Roman bronze statuette the museum titles as Jupiter Capitolinus, referencing the cult image of Jupiter enshrined on Rome's Capitoline Hill. Statuettes of this type reproduced the pose of the great temple statue for private worship.

Acc: 17.230.32Museum Record

Roman1st–2nd century CE

Bronze statuette of Jupiter Capitolinus

Bronze

A second Roman bronze statuette the museum titles as Jupiter Capitolinus, showing the same enthroned type associated with the god's Capitoline cult statue.

Acc: 97.22.8Museum Record

Bronze statuette of the god Neptune. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Romanearly 1st century CE

Bronze statuette of Neptune

Bronze

A Roman bronze statuette the museum catalogs as Neptune, god of the sea. The figure's now-missing attribute would originally have been a trident.

Acc: 07.286.93Museum Record

European Sculpture and Decorative Artsmid-16th century

Neptune

Bronze

A mid-sixteenth-century Italian bronze statuette by Severo Calzetta da Ravenna depicting Neptune. It reflects the Renaissance revival of classical sea-god imagery in collectors' bronzes, not an ancient cult image.

Acc: 64.101.1425Museum Record

Bronze statuette of the goddess Minerva. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Roman2nd century CE

Bronze statuette of Minerva

Bronze

A Roman bronze statuette the museum catalogs as Minerva, the Roman goddess of war and wisdom equated with Athena. Small bronzes of this kind were common household devotional objects.

Acc: 19.192.51Museum Record

European Sculpture and Decorative Artssecond half 16th century

Minerva

Bronze

A sixteenth-century Italian bronze statuette attributed to Benvenuto Cellini depicting Minerva. It belongs to the Renaissance fashion for small classical-style bronzes made for collectors rather than an ancient cult object.

Acc: 41.190.54Museum Record

Marble statue of Venus of the Venus Genetrix type. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Roman1st–2nd century CE

Marble statue of Aphrodite, the so-called Venus Genetrix

Marble

A Roman marble statue of the so-called Venus Genetrix type, named by the museum in its own title. The type descends from a cult statue associated with Venus as ancestress of the Julian imperial line.

Acc: 32.11.3Museum Record

European Sculpture and Decorative Artsca. 1610

Mars

Bronze

A bronze plaquette of about 1610 by the French goldsmith François Briot depicting Mars with shield and sword, tagged by the museum with the god's name. Plaquettes like this were decorative collectors' objects modeled on classical armed figures.

Acc: 1986.319.39Museum Record

Bronze statuette of Isis nursing the infant Horus. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian664–31 BCE

Bronze statuette of Isis with infant Horus

Bronze

A bronze statuette showing Isis nursing the infant Horus, a widely produced devotional type from the Late Period onward. The museum's own title names both figures.

Acc: 74.51.5582Museum Record

Egyptian, Third Intermediate Period–Late Periodca. 1080–343 BCE

Isis nursing Horus

Bronze or copper alloy

A second bronze figure of Isis nursing Horus, one of the most common devotional images in later Egyptian religion. Such figures were placed in shrines by worshippers seeking the goddess's maternal protection.

Acc: 17.190.1641Museum Record

Egyptian, Late Period664–332 BCE

Horus falcon

Faience

A faience amulet in the form of the Horus falcon wearing the double crown, tagged by the museum with his name. Falcon amulets invoked Horus's protection and his association with kingship.

Acc: 22.1.1325Museum Record

Stone statue of Horus as a falcon sheltering King Nectanebo II. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, Late Period360–343 BCE

Statue of Horus as a falcon protecting King Nectanebo II

Metagraywacke

A stone statue showing Horus as a falcon protecting King Nectanebo II, who stands beneath the god's wings. The museum's title identifies both the god and the specific king he shelters.

Acc: 34.2.1Museum Record

Egyptian, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period664–30 BCE

Anubis

Cupreous metal

A cast metal statuette the museum catalogs simply as Anubis, god of embalming and the dead, in his jackal-headed form. Such figures were dedicated by worshippers concerned with proper burial and the afterlife.

Acc: 04.2.430Museum Record

Limestone statue of Anubis as a recumbent black jackal. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, End of Late Period–Ptolemaic Period343–30 BCE

Statue of Anubis as a recumbent canid

Limestone, originally painted black

A limestone statue of Anubis as a recumbent canid, originally painted black, the color associated with fertile Nile silt and rebirth. Statues of this type guarded tombs and funerary equipment.

Acc: 69.105Museum Record

Faience statuette of the ibis-headed god Thoth striding forward. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, Ptolemaic Period332–30 BCE

Striding Thoth

Faience

A faience statuette the museum titles as Striding Thoth, shown in his ibis-headed form as god of writing and knowledge. Faience figures of Thoth were common votive gifts at his cult centers.

Acc: 26.7.860Museum Record

Egyptian, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period664–30 BCE

Ibis-headed god, Thoth

Bronze or cupreous alloy

A bronze statuette the museum identifies as the ibis-headed god Thoth. Thoth's ibis form referenced the bird's association with wisdom and the recording of knowledge.

Acc: 10.130.1360Museum Record

Egyptian, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period664–30 BCE

Bastet

Leaded bronze, precious metal and black bronze inlays

A bronze figure of Bastet inlaid with precious metal, catalogued by the museum under her name. Cat-headed images of Bastet were popular votive and household objects associating her with protection and fertility.

Acc: 34.6.1Museum Record

Egyptian, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period664–30 BCE

Bastet

Cupreous metal

A cast metal figure of Bastet, one of many produced in the Late and Ptolemaic Periods when her cult at Bubastis drew large numbers of pilgrims and votive offerings.

Acc: 57.101Museum Record

Glazed steatite scarab inscribed with a blessing formula naming the god Re. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, Middle Kingdomca. 1850–1640 B.C.

Scarab Inscribed with a Blessing Related to Re

Green glazed steatite

A green glazed steatite scarab inscribed with a blessing formula invoking Re. Scarabs like this were worn as amulets or used as seals, carrying the god's name rather than a figural image of him.

Acc: 22.1.410Museum Record

Egyptian, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period664–30 BCE

Lion-Headed Goddess

Cupreous metal

A cast metal statuette of a lion-headed goddess the museum tags as Sekhmet, the fierce protector deity associated with war and healing. Bronze figures of Sekhmet were dedicated by worshippers seeking her dual powers of destruction and protection.

Acc: 04.2.588Museum Record

Egyptian, Late Period–Ptolemaic Period664–30 BCE

Lion-headed goddess

Cupreous metal

A second lion-headed goddess statuette tagged by the museum as Sekhmet, part of the large body of Late Period bronze votive figures dedicated to her.

Acc: 04.2.424Museum Record

Bronze menat counterpoise cast with figures of the goddess Hathor. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, New Kingdomca. 1386–1347 BCE

Menat counterpoise with figures of Hathor as a woman and a cow

cupreous alloy

A menat counterpoise, the weight balancing a beaded ceremonial necklace used in Hathor's cult, cast with images of the goddess as both a woman and a cow. The museum's own title names Hathor directly.

Acc: 51.157.2Museum Record

Bronze statuette of the mummiform god Osiris holding the crook and flail. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian664–31 BCE

Bronze statuette of Osiris

Bronze

A second bronze statuette of Osiris in his mummiform pose, holding the crook and flail. Figures like this were among the most commonly dedicated votive bronzes in the Late Period, reflecting Osiris's central role in beliefs about the afterlife.

Acc: 74.51.5583Museum Record

Nepal (Kathmandu Valley)dated August 12, 1105

Vishnu

Copper alloy with gilding

A gilded copper-alloy figure of Vishnu from Nepal's Kathmandu Valley, dated by inscription to 1105 CE. The museum catalogs it simply as Vishnu, standing in his four-armed form holding his usual attributes.

Acc: 2015.678Museum Record

Copper-alloy processional bronze of the standing god Vishnu. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

India (Tamil Nadu)ca. third quarter 10th century

Standing Vishnu

Copper alloy

A Chola-period bronze of Vishnu standing in a formal frontal pose, cast in South India for temple processional use. Chola bronzes of this kind were carried in festival processions rather than kept fixed in a shrine.

Acc: 62.265Museum Record

Bronze figure of Shiva as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, within a ring of flame. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Indian (Tamil Nadu)ca. late 11th century

Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja)

Copper alloy

A Chola bronze of Shiva as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance, encircled by a ring of flame. This is one of the most celebrated forms of Hindu bronze sculpture, cast for temple processions in South India.

Acc: 1987.80.1Museum Record

India (Bihar)10th century

Shiva Seated with Uma (Umamaheshvara)

Bronze

A Pala-period bronze showing Shiva seated with his consort Uma, a form known as Umamaheshvara. It reflects the eastern Indian bronze-casting tradition centered in Bihar and Bengal.

Acc: 1978.253Museum Record

India (South India)18th–19th century

Krishna

Bronze

A South Indian bronze portable idol the museum catalogs simply as Krishna, made for personal devotional use. Portable images like this were carried and dressed in household worship.

Acc: 19.135.26Museum Record

Copper-alloy figure of Yashoda nursing the infant Krishna. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

India (Tamil Nadu, Pudukkottai and Tanjavur districts)early 12th century

Yashoda with the Infant Krishna

Copper alloy

A Chola bronze showing Krishna's foster mother Yashoda holding the infant Krishna, tagged by the museum with his name. The tender maternal subject was a popular one in South Indian temple bronzes.

Acc: 1982.220.8Museum Record

Bronze figure of the seated, elephant-headed god Ganesha. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Thailandca. 15th century

Seated Ganesha

Bronze

A Thai bronze of a seated, elephant-headed Ganesha, tagged by the museum with his name. Ganesha's worship spread from India across Buddhist and Hindu Southeast Asia.

Acc: 1983.512Museum Record

India (South India)17th–18th century

Ganesha

Bronze

A South Indian bronze figurine of Ganesha, part of the continuous tradition of casting the elephant-headed god for household and temple shrines.

Acc: 26.33.2Museum Record

Copper-alloy figure of the goddess Durga slaying the buffalo demon Mahisha. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Nepal14th century

The Goddess Durga Slaying Mahisha

Copper alloy

A Nepali bronze the museum titles as the goddess Durga slaying Mahisha, the buffalo demon. The subject depicts her defining myth, in which she was created by the gods to defeat a demon none of them could kill alone.

Acc: 2012.444.1Museum Record

Bronze figure of the goddess Durga triumphing over the demon Mahishasura. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Indiaca. 1400

Durga Mahishasura

Bronze

A bronze figure the museum titles Durga Mahishasura, showing the goddess triumphing over the same buffalo demon. Images of this victory were widely produced across medieval India.

Acc: 1987.142.336Museum Record

Copper-alloy figure of the monkey god Hanuman in conversation. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

India (Tamil Nadu)11th century

Hanuman Conversing

Copper alloy

A Chola-period bronze the museum titles Hanuman Conversing, showing the monkey god in a gesture of speech. Hanuman's devotion to Rama made him one of the most widely worshipped figures from the Ramayana.

Acc: 1982.220.9Museum Record

Bronze figure of the seated creator god Brahma. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Indonesia (Java)ca. late 9th century

Seated Brahma

Bronze

A Central Javanese bronze the museum titles Seated Brahma, showing the creator god enthroned on a lotus. It reflects the spread of Hindu bronze-casting traditions to Java.

Acc: 1987.142.168Museum Record

Bronze figure of the god Brahma with silver-inlaid eyes. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Indonesia (Java)9th century

Brahma with Silver Eyes

Bronze, silver inlay

A Javanese bronze the museum titles Brahma with Silver Eyes, its inlaid eyes a refinement typical of fine Central Javanese metalwork.

Acc: 1987.142.202Museum Record

Chinadated 1282

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin)

Wood (wiillow) with traces of pigment; single woodblock construction

A Yuan-dynasty wood sculpture the museum titles Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), dated by inscription to 1282. Guanyin, the East Asian form of the bodhisattva of compassion, became one of the most widely venerated figures in Chinese Buddhism.

Acc: 34.15.1a, bMuseum Record

ChinaFive Dynasties (907–960)

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin)

Gilt bronze

A gilt bronze figure from the Five Dynasties period the museum titles Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), an early example of the type before the fully Sinicized feminine form became standard.

Acc: 1974.268.5Museum Record

Hanging scroll depicting the sun goddess Amaterasu being lured from her cave. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Japanlate 19th century

Luring the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Out of a Cave with Music; Death of the Historical Buddha

Pair of hanging scrolls; ink, color, and gold on silk

A pair of Meiji-period hanging scrolls whose title the museum gives as Luring the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Out of a Cave with Music, depicting the myth in which the other gods coax her out of hiding to restore light to the world.

Acc: 2015.300.210a, bMuseum Record

Japan18th century

The God Izanagi and Goddess Izanami

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

An Edo-period hanging scroll the museum titles The God Izanagi and Goddess Izanami, depicting the primordial couple credited in Shinto myth with creating the islands of Japan.

Acc: 2015.300.115Museum Record

Fireman's jacket dyed with a scene of the deity Susanoo-no-mikoto. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Japanesemid-19th century

Fireman’s Jacket (Hikeshi-Banten) with Susanoo-no-mikoto Deity Scene

Quilted cotton with tube-drawn paste-resist dyeing (tsutsugaki) with hand-painted details

A quilted cotton fireman's jacket dyed with a scene the museum titles as depicting Susanoo-no-mikoto. Edo-period firemen commissioned dramatic mythological and heroic scenes for the linings of their protective coats.

Acc: 1983.158a–cMuseum Record

ChinaMing dynasty (1368–1644)

The Moon Goddess Chang E

Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper

A Ming-dynasty hanging scroll the museum titles The Moon Goddess Chang E, showing the goddess who, in the best-known version of her myth, drank an elixir of immortality and rose to live on the moon.

Acc: 1981.4.2Museum Record

Woodblock print of the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) from Journey to the West. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Japanprobably 1824

The Monkey King Songokū, from the Chinese novel Journey to the West

Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper

A Japanese surimono print titled by the museum The Monkey King Songoku, from the Chinese novel Journey to the West, using the Japanese reading of Sun Wukong's name. It shows the Chinese Monkey King's story reaching Japanese print culture in the early nineteenth century.

Acc: JP2047Museum Record

Mexica (Aztec)1325–1521 CE

Chalchiuhtlicue

Basalt, pigment

A Mexica (Aztec) basalt figure the museum catalogs simply as Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of lakes, rivers, and running water. Stone images like this were carved in the century before the Spanish conquest.

Acc: 00.5.72Museum Record

Basalt head of the water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mexica (Aztec)15th–early 16th century

Head of a Water Deity (Chalchiuhtlicue)

Basalt

A basalt head the museum titles Head of a Water Deity (Chalchiuhtlicue), broken from a larger figure of the Mexica water goddess.

Acc: 00.5.44Museum Record

Carved obsidian head from a figure of Xochipilli. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mexica (Aztec)15th–early 16th century

Head from a figure, Xochipilli-Macuilxochitl

Obsidian

An obsidian head the museum titles Head from a figure, Xochipilli-Macuilxochitl, naming the Mexica flower prince associated with music, pleasure, and the arts, closely linked with the god Macuilxochitl.

Acc: 2012.517.2Museum Record

Cuneiform clay tablet inscribed with a hymn to the god Marduk. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Babylonian (?)1st millennium BCE

Cuneiform tablet: hymn to Marduk

Clay

A cuneiform clay tablet the museum catalogs as a hymn to Marduk, chief god of the Babylonian pantheon. The tablet is a textual rather than figural attestation of his worship.

Acc: 86.11.313Museum Record

Marble grave stele with a sphinx-form finial. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, Atticca. 530 BCE

Marble stele (grave marker) with a youth and little girl, and a capital and finial in the form of a sphinx

Marble

An Archaic Attic grave stele topped by a small sphinx finial, tagged by the museum with the creature's name. Sphinxes were common protective figures on Greek funerary monuments.

Acc: 11.185a–d, f, g, xMuseum Record

Faience sphinx associated with King Amenhotep III. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, New Kingdomca. 1386–1347 BCE

Sphinx of Amenhotep III, possibly from a Model of a Temple

Faience, remains of a travertine (Egyptian alabaster) tenon

A faience sphinx bearing the name of Amenhotep III, possibly from a model temple. Egyptian sphinxes combined a lion's body with a royal human head to guard sacred sites.

Acc: 1972.125Museum Record

Granite sphinx bearing the face of Hatshepsut. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Egyptian, New Kingdomca. 1473–1458 BCE

Sphinx of Hatshepsut

Granite, paint

A granite sphinx carved with the features of Queen Hatshepsut, one of the best-known royal sphinxes in the museum's Egyptian collection.

Acc: 31.3.166Museum Record

Sardonyx cameo fragment showing Hercules restraining Cerberus. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek or Roman1st century BCE–1st century CE

Sardonyx cameo fragment with Hercules tying up Cerberus

Sardonyx

A sardonyx cameo fragment the museum titles Hercules Tying Up Cerberus, showing the hero's final labor of capturing the three-headed hound of the underworld.

Acc: 32.142.1Museum Record

Terracotta eye-cup with a painted scene of Theseus and the Minotaur. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, Atticca. 530 BCE

Terracotta kylix: eye-cup (drinking cup)

Terracotta

Between painted eyes, Theseus confronts the Minotaur, with youths and maidens as spectators. The scene appears on both sides of the cup.

Acc: 09.221.39Museum Record

Terracotta skyphos with a painted scene of Theseus and the Minotaur. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Greek, Atticca. 470–460 BCE

Terracotta skyphos (deep drinking cup)

Terracotta

Theseus appears on one side and the Minotaur on the other. The museum describes the figures as separate protagonists rather than a continuous narrative.

Acc: 76.12.7Museum Record

Red sandstone figure of a standing Nagaraja, a serpent king. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

India (Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh)ca. mid- 5th century

Standing Nagaraja (Serpent King)

Red sandstone

A Gupta-period red sandstone figure the museum titles Standing Nagaraja (Serpent King), a divine serpent-being whose cobra hood rises behind his head.

Acc: 1991.83.1Museum Record

Bronze figure of the Buddha sheltered by the hood of a naga. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Cambodia12th century

Buddha Sheltered by a Naga

Bronze

A Khmer bronze the museum titles Buddha Sheltered by a Naga, showing the multi-headed serpent Mucalinda protecting the meditating Buddha, a well-known episode from Buddhist legend.

Acc: 1987.424.19a, bMuseum Record

Gilt bronze finial in the form of the bird-man Garuda. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Thailandlate 12th–early 13th century

Garuda Finial

Gilt bronze

A gilt bronze finial in the form of Garuda, the half-man, half-bird creature and mount of Vishnu, made in Thailand for architectural decoration.

Acc: 1986.501.4Museum Record

Bronze figure of a striding Garuda. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Thailandthird quarter of the 10th century

Striding Garuda (The Royal Solar Bird)

Bronze

A Thai bronze the museum titles Striding Garuda (The Royal Solar Bird), showing the creature in an active pose rather than as a static architectural ornament.

Acc: 1987.218.21Museum Record

Woodblock print showing a mirror decorated with a nine-tailed fox. Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

JapanEdo period (1615–1868)

Mirror With the Design of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper

An Edo-period Japanese print the museum titles Mirror With the Design of a Nine-Tailed Fox, depicting the shapeshifting kitsune associated in folklore with trickery and transformation.

Acc: JP2161Museum Record

Illustrated handscroll from the Tale of the Fox (Kitsune no soshi). Photograph: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Japan1669

Tale of the Fox (Kitsune no sōshi)

Handscroll: ink and color on paper

An illustrated Edo-period handscroll titled Tale of the Fox (Kitsune no soshi), a narrative built around a shapeshifting kitsune. The handscroll documents the fox's role as a recurring figure in Japanese storytelling.

Acc: 2020.396.19Museum Record