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Lot Essay
At Memphis, Nefertem was considered a son of Ptah and Sekhmet, the moody and potentially dangerous leonine goddess. Her fierce nature was passed along to her son, who was thought to be harmful to newborn children. In order to appease him, it was necessary to make statuary offerings, such as the present example.
While small statuary with a suspension loops at the back were typically worn as pendants, the size and weight of this example suggests that such a use was unlikely. Rather, it is possible that it was fastened for ritual purposes, hanging from larger divine statues, secured to the temple or onto ritual furniture (see pp. 87-88 in M. Hill, ed., Gifts For The Gods: Images From The Egyptian Temples).
While small statuary with a suspension loops at the back were typically worn as pendants, the size and weight of this example suggests that such a use was unlikely. Rather, it is possible that it was fastened for ritual purposes, hanging from larger divine statues, secured to the temple or onto ritual furniture (see pp. 87-88 in M. Hill, ed., Gifts For The Gods: Images From The Egyptian Temples).