An aspect of fertility figures shared by Egyptians and the South Sotho of southern Africa636 is that although the figurines signify the desire to have children, they are not in the form of children but of adults, mostly female. The majority of surviving examples were modelled from clay, fired and deposited, possibly as votive offerings, in a wide range of contexts, from temples to tombs and houses.637 Pinch states that:638 ‘It is uncertain whether these objects were votive in the sense of being gifts offered in fulfilment of a vow, after an answered prayer _ The numerous forms of magical ‘coercion’ employed in Egyptian funerary religion suggest that the offerings were made in anticipation of the desired effect.’ However, Wood639 notes that it is equally possible that the figurines were deposited in gratitude at a successful outcome, in this case conception or birth.
Ceramic snakes found in domestic contexts may have acted as guardians to protect against nightmares induced by the dead.640 Examples have been found in houses at Memphis and Amarna.641 Such protection may also have been the function of a Nineteenth Dynasty stela of Khonsu and Tentopet (probably from Deir el-Medina) with its appeal to Meretseger in snake form: ‘May she grant pleasure without seeing horror’.642
Figure 25: Statuette of Mersu, dedicated by his brother, Mayamun. Painted limestine, from Deir el-Medina, 18th Dynasty. Turin 3092. © Fondazione museo Antichita Egizie di Torino - used with permission.
World History
