Stela with the Amun-Re and Mut relief

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This is a limestone stela that features Nebamun, the Royal Scribe, worshipping Amun-Re and Mut at Medinet Gurob during the 19th Dynasty of Egypt's New Kingdom. The ancient Egyptians revered Mut as the mother goddess of Thebes, which was situated in the 4th Nome of Upper Egypt's Waset region. They associated the vulture with a nurturing and protective mother figure, so their word for "mother" also referred to this bird, Mwt. In art, Mut was often depicted as a woman with wings or as a vulture wearing royal crowns, typically the double crown of Egypt or the vulture headdress donned by New Kingdom queens. Occasionally, she was portrayed as a male figure due to her role as "Mut, Who Giveth Birth, But Was Herself Not Born of Any," and also because people believed that there were no male griffon vultures, which are nearly identical in appearance to females. In later periods, Mut was shown with the head of a lioness, a cow, or a cobra as she adopted characteristics from other Egyptian goddesses.