Roman glass fish flasks and vessels, 1st-4th century AD 🐟

A tiny (48 mm) Greek owl carved in purple fluorite. The wise owl was the symbol of the goddess Athena and by extension the city of Athens. The small precious stone sculpture was likely carried as a votive idol or protective amulet, c.4th century BC, Bertolami Fine Art.

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Egyptian Bronze Sculpture of Bastet with Gold Earrings (600-300 BC) Depicted as a cat-headed female figure, this statuette can be doubtlessly identified as Bastet because of her attributes. The historical origins of the goddess Bastet may be traced back to the Delta city of Bubastis from which her cult spread. In accordance with the complex conceits of ancient Egyptian religious concepts, powerful, and often destructive forces, had to be appeased and allayed in order to effect their transformation into benevolent, useful powers. In keeping with this conceit, feline goddesses were possessed of opposing characteristics often given visual form in the contrast between a lioness and a cat. The destructive forces associated with felines was often manifest in the lioness as Sakhmet whose belligerent characteristics could be soothed by the playing of a sistrum in order for her to metamorphose into a more docile pussy cat. It is for this reason that our figure of Bastet shakes her sistrum and holds out the aegis of the lioness. These attributes were intended to remind the ancient Egyptians of the two-fold nature of Bastet and how her docile, benevolent nature could turn violent and hostile if adherence to her rituals were not strictly observed. Barakat Gallery #archaeohistories