A 5,000-year-old statue of the Egyptian god Min, currently on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition "Divine Egypt," has gone viral on social media after a user on X posted a humorous comment about its erect phallus. The statue, which originally featured a separate stone phallus now lost, depicts Min with his hand at his groin, a pose linked to male fertility. The exhibition includes nearly 250 artworks and objects related to Egyptian deities, with loans from the Louvre, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The viral moment highlights how ancient art can unexpectedly capture modern internet attention, blending scholarly context with popular humor. The exhibition itself, praised by ARTnews critic Alex Greenberger for containing elements that "defy easy explanation," underscores the enduring fascination with Egyptian iconography and the Met's role in presenting ancient artifacts to contemporary audiences. The incident also reflects the power of social media to amplify niche museum content, potentially drawing new visitors to the show.