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Unknown Maker, Egyptian

Horus Amulet

Maker

Unknown Maker, Egyptian

Culture

Egyptian

Title

Horus Amulet

Period

Ptolemaic period

Year

304-30 BCE

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

glazed ceramic

Dimensions

4.9 cm (1 15/16 inches) (height)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

22.141

Type

Exhibition History

Being and Believing in the Natural World
Perspectives from the Ancient Mediterranean, Asia, and Indigenous North America
Oct 22, 2022 – Jun 04, 2023

Label copy

Anubis protected and guided the dead. This wooden head was part of a larger statuette guarding a shrine or coffin.

A glass-like material associated with rebirth, Egyptian faience was often used to make grave goods, such as this hippo. Hippos were associated with the Nile River, considered the source of all life.

Amulets provided protection; they were worn during life and sewn into the mummy wrappings of the deceased. Shabtis were figures placed in tombs to perform labor in the afterlife. If the deceased is called upon to sow or irrigate the land, a shabti will answer, “Here I am” and do the work for them.

—GB

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Egyptian
Horus Amulet, 304-30 BCE
Egyptian faience
4.9 cm (1 15/16 inches) (height)
Anonymous gift 22.141

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