DYNASTY XVIII, 1353-1335 B.C.

In the last decade, the theory was advanced that rather than having a strictly ornamental purpose, the spoons should be seen in a ritual funerary context, and that the charming motif of a nude swimming girl with a goose can be interpreted as a rebus pertaining to the afterlife. The hieroglyph of a goose can be literally read as Geb, the earth god, also known by his nickname "the great honker". Seen in this context, the maiden with the goose becomes his wife Nut, the night goddess swimming with her husband across the eternal waters of heaven.
For a similar example, see fig. XI.1 in Kozloff and Bryan, Egypt's Dazzling Sun, Amenhotep III and His World.