Shrew-Mouse Relic Box

Hollow bronze container for a mummified shrew-mouse, adorned with a solid cast figure of a shrew-mouse. Described by Professor Percy Newberry as being of a “good technique” and dating to the Ptolemaic or Romano-Egyptian period. As a nocturnal creature, the shrew was associated with the ichneumon which lived during the day, and together they represented the two faces of the sun-god. Compare with a similar example in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London (UC 16447).