河马雕像 - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	河马雕像
品名（英）	Hippopotamus figurine
入馆年号	1920年，20.2.25
策展部门	埃及艺术（Egyptian Art）
创作者
创作年份	公元前 780 - 公元前 525
创作地区	来自于: 埃及（From: Egypt）
分类
尺寸	长 8.2 厘米 (3 1/4 英寸); 宽 3.2 厘米 (1 1/4 英寸); 高 4.3 厘米 (1 11/16 英寸)
介绍（中）	这尊小雕像描绘了一只河马，它有着典型的桶形身体、短腿和非常大的头。这件作品的高质量体现在对头部的详细描绘中，其中包括对眼睛下方和鼻子顶部的精彩建模在中王国时期和第二中间时期，用蓝色彩釉制作的无底座河马俑很受欢迎，这里的作品最早可追溯到这一时期。然而，在希腊萨摩斯岛上发现了一尊非常相似的河马雕像，它一定是埃及出口的。在希腊发现的这件作品的考古背景可以追溯到公元前8至6世纪，底座上的一组由白色材料制成的小河马雕像可能属于同一时期人们很容易看到这些小河马雕像与一位名叫赫杰特的河马女神的节日有关，赫杰特女神的名字被翻译为"白色的那个"。然而，这种翻译受到了质疑，在女神的画像上发现了红色油漆的痕迹。有趣的是，这里的河马也曾被画上白色的石头，颜料的痕迹似乎表明它曾经是蓝色的。原因尚不清楚，但可能在于这种颜色的普遍积极象征意义。
介绍（英）	This statuette depicts a hippopotamus with its typical barrel-shaped body, short legs, and very large head. The high quality of the piece is apparent in the detailed depiction of the head that includes wonderful modeling of the area below the eyes and of the top of the snout. Hippopotamus figurines made out of blue faience and without a base were popular in the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period and the piece here was originally dated to this time. However, a very similar hippopotamus statuette, which must have been an export from Egypt, has been found on the Greek island of Samos. The archeological context of the piece found in Greece dates it to the 8th to 6th century B.C. and a group of small hippopotamus statuettes on bases, and made out of a white material, likely belong to the same period. It is tempting to see these small hippos figurines as connected to a festival for a hippo goddess called Hedjet, whose name has been translated as "The White One." However this translation has been questioned and traces of red paint have been found on depictions of the goddess. Intriguingly, the hippopotamus here, for which a white stone was chosen, was once painted as well, and traces of pigment seem to indicate that it was once blue. The reasons are unclear but might lie in the general positive symbolism of this color.