Materials

Evolution linked to the different periods and techniques used

Simplified chronology of ancient Egypt

a) Predynastic, Thinite Period, Old and Middle Kingdoms

– Natural materials requiring little work: bone, hippopotamus ivory, shells, minerals and rocks

Rock crystal
falcon L 2.0
Museum of Fine
Arts © Photograph
D. Attaix

Alabaster pig or hippopotamus? H 0.9
Predynastic or
early Dynastic
Private collection DA

Stylized birds and bovine heads in dark green feldspar, hippopotamus? in carnelian, and elephant heads in amethyst, ivory and limestone L or H 1.2-2.9
Museum of Fine Arts, © Photograph D. Attaix

– Amuletic jewelry with gold and semiprecious stones, reserved to the upper class

b) From the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom

There was a large increase in the number of amulets:

– Very often in semiprecious stones

Carnelian god Aker L 2.1
Forepart lions joined,
a deification of the western and eastern horizons

– In precious materials for the very upper class

Gold, turquoise and chalcedony fishes, lions and shell Maximum L 3.6 Middle Kingdom
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Gold, turquoise, carnelian and lapis lazuli amuletic pectoral of a princess with central god Heh. H 4.5, Middle Kingdom Dynasty 12. The Metropolitan Museum of Art #16.1.3a, b

c) Since the New Kingdom mass production of faience amulets

– Molds in terracotta

Rosette mold Ø 3.2, T 1.2
Late Dynasty 18

Wedjat mold Ø 2.5, T 1.1
Late Dynasty 18

Private collection DA

Accidents of demoulding:

Minor

– Glazing faience amulets

• – Efflorescence: firmly attested since the Middle Kingdom

Gifts of the Nile, Ancient Egyptian Faience, 1998
edited by Florence D. Friedman, Thames & Hudson

• – Cementation: firmly attested since the Middle Kingdom

Cementation is hard to detect. The colour must be uniform in recessed areas where later naturally forming deposits might create colour variation

Amulet glazed by the cementation technique, the glazing is perfectly uniform all over

Striding ibis-headed god Thoth
H 4.5 cm Late Period
Private collection DA

• – Application: Firmly attested since the New Kingdom of glazed amulets of goddesses, gods and sacred animals

Gifts of the Nile, Ancient Egyptian Faience, 1998
edited by Florence D. Friedman, Thames & Hudson

Amulets glazed by application: the glazing can be very thin and is frequently eroded

These three major techniques are largely a theoretical oversimplification. Indeed, a combination of different techniques was often used to glaze a given amulet¹

Reference

¹Friedman F D. Gifts of the Nile Ancient Egyptian Faience, 1998, Thames & Hudson in association with the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, p. 54

– introduction and production of glazed amulets of goddesses, gods and sacred animals

 Glazed amulets Musée du Louvre, Late Period, © Photograph D. Attaix

d) In the Late Period

– Degenerated amulets of very poor quality

Glazed god Thoth as an ibis-headed striding man H 4.5 and 4.7
Private collection DA

– High quality amulets in Saite Dynasty 26

Faded green glazed god Shu H 2.5
Private collection DA

– Composite amulets

The are, as indicated by their name, the juxtaposition of several symbols and/or deities to reinforce magical protection

From an iconographic point of view these amulets are by far the most interesting ones due to their infinite complexities and interpretations

In addition, most are rare and more or less unique

Composite Pataikos. Red arrows denote the additions to the central Pataikos

Green glazed Pataikos H 8.5 Late Period
© 2004 Musée du Louvre/Christian Décamps #E11202

Glazed pantheistic god Bes amulets Red arrows denote the additions to the central Bes

Faded green glaze broken H 5.5
Private collection DA

Glazed composite wedjat eyes. Red arrows denote the additions to the central wedjat eye

Faded green glaze
L 3.7 Late Period
Private collection DA

– Copper alloy amulets produced by the lost wax technique (no mass production)

Predominant for some representations sometimes gilded

Gilded copper alloy
Hathor cow L 3.2

Private collection DA

e) Nubian Amulets

Typical Meroitic ring with
an atef crowned uraeus
Faded green glaze Ø 2.5
Private collection DA

Glazed Amun-Re amulets
Third Intermediate Period Kushite Dynasty 25

Green/blue glaze L 2.8 Private collection DA

Green glaze, eyes encrusted with gold, obsidian and calcite
L 3.0 Hôtel des Ventes de Monte-Carlo

Hard stone god Amun H 8.4
Staaliche Sammlung Ägyptischer Kunst, München

Gold and glass mosaic wedjat eyes L 1.8 and 1.2
Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung Berlin © Photograph D. Attaix

Gold and glass mosaic heads of Hathor goddess
H 2.3

Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung Berlin
© Photographs D. Attaix

Amulet case in rock crystal topped by a gold head of Hathor goddess H 5.3
Museum of Fine Arts #21.321
© Photograph D. Attaix