Cleveland Museum of Art

Statue of Heqat, the Frog Goddess

Date

c. 2950 BCE

Medium

travertine (Egyptian alabaster)

Culture

Egypt, Predynastic (5000–2950 BCE), Naqada III (3200–3000 BCE)–Egypt, Early Dynastic (2950–2647 BCE), Dynasty 1

Department

Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

During the Predynastic period statues of animals are much more common than those of humans. This statue of a frog stands at the beginning of a great tradition of animal sculpture in Egyptian art. The sculptor has shown great sensitivity to the natural banding of the stone, using it to enhance the roundness of the animal's form. Small frogs, mostly of faience, are among the most common votive offerings deposited at early temple sites. The frog's exact religious significance in the Predynastic period is unknown, but in later times it was most often identified with Heqat, the goddess who assisted at childbirth. This probably represents a puffed-up Bufo viridis , one of two types of "frogs" (it is actually a toad) represented in Egyptian art.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.