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Material : Bronze
Width : 8 . 5 Height : 15 . 5
Found in : Sais , San El-hagar ()
This statue of a cobra with two lizards was found in the rich archeological site of Sais (present-day San el Hagar , once the capital of the country in the Late Pharaonic Period) . In ancient
Egypt
, cobras represented the symbol of divine and royal protection against harmful and evil influences . A cobra was identified with goddess Uto , is the personification of the Red Crown of Lower Egypt . Her name means "the Green One" . In depiction , she is often represented as a cobra , or as a woman with the head of a cobra or as a woman wearing the Red Crown . She assists goddess Nekhbet in the crowning of the king with the Red Crown .
This bronze group rests on a 4-cm-high square base , the height of which measures 4 cm with the length of 15 cm . The statue comprises of a coiled cobra flanked by a lizard on either side . Lizards , often seen basking in the sun , were also believed to be manifestations of the sun-god Atum . In ancient Egypt the lizard also represented divine wisdom and good fortune . Excavations in El Fayoum reveal some remains of bones and mummies of the lizard which indicated that it was the center of its cult .
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