Mould

Limestone figure-mould, square shaped and carved on one side in sunken relief with a benu-bird. Incised eye and wing details, and two long crest feathers flowing from the back of the head. The benu-bird was a symbol of creation and rebirth and for these reasons was associated with the gods Atum, Ra and Osiris. In spells of the Book of the Dead numbers 29B and 30B the benu-bird is called the 'soul of Ra’. Moulds like this may have been used in the manufacture of glass or faience amulets or decorative inlays. Round sticker on one corner, "HP 507" (i.e., Wellcome's inventory number of objects purchased at the Hilton Price sale). Purchased at Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 12-20 July 1911 lot 252 (1 of 8): “A stone mould, with figure of the ‘Bennu’ bird of Heliopolis; and a pair of stone Moulds, with similar designs; from Bubastis; (3548, 4015)”. Described by Frederick Hilton Price (a previous owner) as a “Mould, for casting figures of the Bennu bird, whose presence at Heliopolis symbolized the return of Osiris to the light of day. This bird was employed to represent the Phoenix; of the Graeco-Egyptian fable, of which Wilkinson gives a full account. The form of the bird is like that of a plover. It has been supposed by some that the reappearance of the bird after the lapse of hundreds of years was the cause of its being adopted to represent comets. Calcareous stone. Bubastis” (1897, p.425, no. 3548). CONDITION NOTE (1998): Chipped, abraised, surface dirt, discolouration, label adhered to surface.