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Lot Essay
Gustave Jéquier was a celebrated Swiss archaeologist. He first studied in Paris with Gaston Maspero, and then moved to Berlin before joining the de Morgan expedition to Persia, which led to the discovery and decipherment of the code of Hammurabi.
His numerous contributions to the field of Egyptology include his research on the pyramids of the Old Kindgom with the French Institute in Cairo and the discovery of the 13th Dynasty pyramid of Khendjer. Together with Edouard Naville (1844-1926) he is considered Switzerland'd most preeminent archaeologist, and at his death in 1947 most of his collection was acquired by the University of Basel.
For an earlier representation of a goddess suckling a king see the ostracon of Ramesses II, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 50 in A. K. Capel and G. E. Markoe, Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven, Women in Ancient Egypt, Cincinnati, 1996. As Capel informs (p. 118), "the king was suckled by a goddess on three occasions: at birth into this world; at coronation, his 'birth' into kingship; and after his death, when he was reborn in the afterlife. [...] An inscription on a vessel from the tomb of King Aspelta, which was used for drinking 'divine' milk, reads: 'Hail to you, O beautiful liquid, O good produce which averts every evil. .[..] May you drive away every evil and ward off every abomination...' This milk-drinking ritual evidently was believed to purify a person of sin as he or she underwent a crucial rite of passage." In the absence of an attribute or inscription, the identity of the goddess cannot be ascertained, but Mut or Anuket are possibilities.
His numerous contributions to the field of Egyptology include his research on the pyramids of the Old Kindgom with the French Institute in Cairo and the discovery of the 13th Dynasty pyramid of Khendjer. Together with Edouard Naville (1844-1926) he is considered Switzerland'd most preeminent archaeologist, and at his death in 1947 most of his collection was acquired by the University of Basel.
For an earlier representation of a goddess suckling a king see the ostracon of Ramesses II, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 50 in A. K. Capel and G. E. Markoe, Mistress of the House, Mistress of Heaven, Women in Ancient Egypt, Cincinnati, 1996. As Capel informs (p. 118), "the king was suckled by a goddess on three occasions: at birth into this world; at coronation, his 'birth' into kingship; and after his death, when he was reborn in the afterlife. [...] An inscription on a vessel from the tomb of King Aspelta, which was used for drinking 'divine' milk, reads: 'Hail to you, O beautiful liquid, O good produce which averts every evil. .[..] May you drive away every evil and ward off every abomination...' This milk-drinking ritual evidently was believed to purify a person of sin as he or she underwent a crucial rite of passage." In the absence of an attribute or inscription, the identity of the goddess cannot be ascertained, but Mut or Anuket are possibilities.