CHINA ARQUEOLOGIA golden-age-chinese-archayeolog

The pregnant female figure, however, may have
a much more exotic origin: late versions of the
Egyptian goddess Tauert, known in small figurines
in the shape of an upstanding pregnant hippopotamus
have come to light in parts of the Near East or
Iran. (An agate carving of this pregnant figure, with
a lion's head, seems to have been made in Iran. 3 )
This foot or support may incorporate features borrowed
from peoples along the north and western
peripheries of the area; other features, in particular
incense burners and bears, were adopted from the
border areas and substantially modified by the Han
to suit their own visual context and above all their
own symbolic or iconographic significances. This
medley of sources is characteristic of the richness,
vitality, and originality of Han culture. JR
1 Excavated in 1968 (M 1:4146); reported: Zhongguo i98ob,
1:95-96.
2 Hubei 1991, color pi. 6:2, 3.
3 Rawson 1998)3, 44 - 47.
401 ROYAL TOMBS AT LINCSHAN