LATE PERIOD, 26TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 664-525 B.C.

Although the warlike stance and attributes (curled wig, long kilt) of this figure evoke the god Onuris, the inscriptions on both upper and lower bases allow no doubt as to its identification as an incarnation of “Amun-Ra, king of the gods.” Dedicated by a man named Nes-ptah, son of Wenem-[di]-Amun, this figure is closely related in style, inscription and function to a bronze figure dedicated by the same individual now in Liverpool (acc. no. M. 11594; see J. Malek, et al., eds., op. cit., no. 802-002-600). Similarly featuring a deity with upraised right arm holding a mace, Nes-ptah’s dedication on the base of the Liverpool statuette invokes Amun-Ra as “Slayer of Enemies,” while the bearded face is one normally identified with the god Bes. The warlike poses of these statuettes also evoke deities with foreign associations such as Ba’al and Reshef, although according to de H. Meuelenaere (“Over vier Egyptische bronzen beeldjes uit de Saitische tijd,” OMRO 30, pp. 10-15), the precise iconography of these foreign gods appears to have fallen into obscurity by the Late Period.

Both statuettes appear to have been commissioned by Nes-ptah as apotropaic images representing various forms of Amun-Re, and contain wishes for a long life and an elevated and perfect old age. As the name Amun means “the Hidden One,” this god is especially well suited to a variety of different outward forms. The selection of the iconography of Onuris or Onuris-Shu is particularly well suited to a protective function, given the cosmic role of Onuris as helper of Re against the serpent Apophis. A further Saite bronze statuette of Amun-Re is known in the form of a male deity with crocodile head (see the example in Munich, Schoske and D. Wildung, op. cit., 1985, cat. 113, 129-130 and cover), another instance in which the identity of Amun-Ra is only made clear by the naming of the god in the dedicatory inscription on the base.