Relic-box Surmounted by a Shrew

The shrew with its long nose and mouse-like appearance was a special form of the sun god Re, and even of the god Horus in ancient Egypt. The nocturnal, poor-sighted animal was identified with the nocturnal manifestation of Re, who safely traverses the dark regions of the underworld, or Horus-Henti-irti (“the one with no eyes”), who is the helper of his father, Osiris, in the Netherworld. Since the Egyptians identified the nocturnal form of the sun god with the god Osiris from the Middle Kingdom onwards, the various identifications of the shrew were also closely related to each other. The animal’s associations with these important gods elevated him to the status of a sacred animal in the Late Period and many of its specimens were mummified.
The shrew’s characteristically long nose is clearly recognisable on the bronze statuette, but the long tail has been broken off. The figure was placed on top of a rectangular coffin that was originally intended to hold the mummy of a shrew, but the cast core left inside indicates that it was never used.