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Egyptian Antiquities :
Egyptian Amulets : 26th Dynasty Faience Amulet of Thoth
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26th Dynasty Faience Amulet of Thoth - X.0323
Origin: Egypt
Circa: 305
BC
to 100
AD
Collection: Egyptian
Medium: Faience
Additional Information: HK
£4,000.00
Location: Great Britain
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| Description |
This turquoise-blue faience amulet
represents an ibis-headed male figure in
the classic Egyptian attitude of
striding forward with his left leg
advanced on an integral base to which is
attached an integral back pillar. The
figure wears a belted, striated kilt and
striated, tripartite wig. His arms are
held down along the sides of his body
and his hand holds an ankh-sign. The
torso modeling is characterized by a
pronounced bipartition with emphasis
placed on the stomach and lower abdomen.
The dating of this amulet of Thoth, god
of wisdom, is suggested by the color of
the faience used, a color which was
extremely popular during the Ptolemaic
and early Roman Imperial Period in
Egypt.
Despite the plurality of meanings
inherent in visual symbols in ancient
Egyptian culture, the ibis appears to
have been reserved almost exclusively
for associations with Thoth, the god of
wisdom, inventor of the hieroglyphs, and
patron of scribes. Why this particular
bird should have come to be associated
with Thoth is shrouded in mystery and
remains an enigma, but the association
may ultimately derive from the fact that
Thoth’s sacred site, Ashumunein in
Middle Egypt, employs the hieroglyph of
the ibis in the writing of the name of
the nome, or province, in which this
city is located.
The small scale of this amulet suggests
that it served a funerary function, a
function which is reinforced by its
turquoise blue color. Objects so colored
are imbued with concepts of rebirth,
regeneration, and fecundity. Those
concepts are emphasized by the ankh-
sign, symbol of life, which Thoth holds
in his hand. Because Thoth was believed
to record the verdict in the Hall of
Judgment when the heart of the deceased
was weighed against the feather of Maat,
the blue color of the faience in
association with the ankh-sign indicate
that this amulet symbolized the triumph
of the deceased at that tribunal and
eternal existence in the Hereafter.
Carol Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt
(Austin 1994), frontis and page 24,
figure 20, for two similar examples in
London, The British Museum, neither of
which, however, holds an ankh-sign in
its hands.
Dorothea Arnold, An Egyptian Bestiary
(New York 1995), page 63, for the use of
this particular color of faience as a
dating criterion.
Wolfgang Helck and Eberhard Otto,
Kleines Lexikon der Ägyptologie [edited
by Rosemarie Drekhahn] (Wiesbaden 1999),
310-311, for a succinct discussion of
the god Thoth and the animals associated
with his cult.
- (X.0323)
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