An unusual Egyptian janiform amulet made of turquoise faience, depicting the two gods Pataikos and Ra-Horakhty. To one side, Pataikos’ squat form is depicted, with short legs and arms at his waist. He is displayed frontally and nude, his large male member visible between his legs. A large suspension loop rests upon his bald head. To the other side, the god Ra-Horakhty has been depicted as a falcon-headed figure, wearing a sun disk. His tripartite wig covers his head. Similarly displayed as Pataikos, Ra appears frontally and nude, hands resting at his waist. One would assume this is the front portion of the amulet, with the suspension loop at the reverse and hidden by the large sun-disk. The whole amulet rests on a small rectangular platform, with four zoomorphic protrusions, possibly representing crocodiles.

Date: Circa 664–30 BC
Period: Late Period - Ptolemaic Period
Condition: Excellent. A large amulet, finely detailed. Chip to the nose of Ra and the base.

Dimensions: W 2.8 x H 6.1 cm

Weight: 13.6 g

Like most Egyptian amulets, janiform pieces were worn to pass on the apotropaic properties of the gods depicted to their wearers.

The dwarf god Pataikos was believed to have been a protection deity. He was considered the son of the craftsman’s god, Ptah, and his name is presumed to originate from discussions by Herodotus. Pataikos essentially means ‘little Ptah’. Pataikos is associated with violent forces; Egyptian artwork depicts him walking over snakes and crocodiles, or grasping them in his hands, in some instances he has a scarab beetle on the top of his head. His protective and fierce qualities were believed to ward off evils that may result in injuries, illnesses or misfortune. He is also often associated and depicted with the dwarf god Bes, appearing together on amulets.

The Egyptian god Ra was an important deity in the Egyptian pantheon. Primarily he was a sun god, hence the sun-disk iconography represented here. As his importance grew he was associated with all aspects of the created world; the sun, the sky and the Earth. Portrayed as a falcon-headed god, he bore similarities with Horus. As time progressed the two gods were combined, to form Ra-Horakhty. it is has been suggested that this is more of a title, to portray the similarities between the two gods. The phrase translates as “Ra [who is] Horus of the Horizons”.

Egyptian Faience Janiform Amulet of Ra-Horakhty & Pataikos - Ancient Egyptian Antiquities | Ancient & OrientalAncient & Oriental

Relief of Akhenaten as a sphinx

Egyptian
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten
1349–1336 B.C.

MEDIUM/TECHNIQUE
Limestone

DIMENSIONS
Height x width x depth: 51 x 105.5 x 5.2 cm (20 1/16 x 41 9/16 x 2 1/16 in.)

CREDIT LINE
Egyptian Curator's Fund

ACCESSION NUMBER
64.194

NOT ON VIEW

COLLECTIONS
Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East

CLASSIFICATIONS
Architectural elements – Relief

DESCRIPTION
Although Akhenaten's religious reforms purged Egyptian art of many of its most familiar manifestations, the king remained fond of the sphinx and often had himself depicted as that fantastic creature - part man, part lion. In Old Kingdom times, the Great Sphinx at Giza probably stood for the king presenting offerings to the sun god, while in the Eighteenth Dynasty the mighty monument was reinterpreted as the sun god Horemakhet, or Horus in the Horizon. Its impeccable solar credentials therefore made the sphinx an appropriate image for Akhenaten at el-Amarna, the city he called Akhetaten, "Horizon of the Sun Disk."

This relief was one of a pair flanking a temple doorway. The sphinx on it rests on a plinth, suggesting that it represents a statue. A pair of such reliefs flanking the doorway of a small temple would have evoked the grand avenues of sphinxes that traditionally led up to the entrance pylons of larger Egyptian sanctuaries. Here the sphinx is equipped with human arms and hands to enable him to make offerings to his god, the sun disk, Aten, who appears at the upper left. He wears the uraeus of kingship while behind him (to the left) are two cartouches containing his lengthy official name. The sun's life-giving rays end in so many hands, some holding ankh-signs. Below are three offering stands. To the right, Akhenaten as sphinx raises one hand in adoration while in the other he holds a neb sign, a basket signifying lordship, holding Aten's cartouches. These same cartouches appear a third time in the upper right where they are joined with the cartouches of Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti, who is thus present in name if not in image. The rest of the inscription describes the "great, living Aten" as "dwelling in the Sunshade temple [called] Creator of the Horizon [which is] in Akhetaten." The temple named here, yet to be located, must be the one for which this block was carved.

Akhenaten's religious revolution was accompanied by a change in the way pharaoh was depicted, showing a marked departure from the idealized images favored by his predecessors. Even though the king's face has been sadly hacked away, one can still discern his characteristic slanted eyes, long nose,hollow cheeks, drooping lower lip, and pendulous chin.

PROVENANCE
Probably from el-Amarna. 1964, sold by Ernst E. Kofler (dealer; b. 1899 - d. 1989), Lucerne, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 14, 1964

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/46197/relief-of-akhenaten-as-a-sphinx?ctx=ac9f7b45-02d8-493b-a633-5d4a1b08ac5f&idx=11

Relief of Akhenaten as a sphinx, Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten 1349–1336 B.C., Limestone, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Statuette of a Man
PLACE CREATED Egypt, Africa
CULTURE Egyptian
PERIOD Old Kingdom, Dynasty 6
DATE 2305-2152 BCE
MEDIUM Wood, ground, paint
CREDIT LINE Egyptian Purchase Fund
DIMENSIONS 23 1/4 x 5 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (59.1 x 14 x 11.4 cm)
OBJECT NUMBER 2002.041.001

Label Text
During the late Old Kingdom, a freer manneristic style developed along with the increasing popularity of wooden statuary. The example here, with its long, expressive face, typifies the best of this new artistic trend. One arm is preserved resting against his side while the other, now lost, would have been bent at the elbow, holding a walking stick, a symbol of his status. The white kilt has traces of paint representing beaded tassels hanging from his belt.

Exhibition History
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, 2006 - August 15, 2011
Life and Death in the Pyramid Age: The Emory Old Kingdom Mummy, Michael C. Carlos Museum, September 10 - December 11, 2011
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 2012 - Present

Published References
Christie's New York, Antiquities (June 12, 2002), 150-151, number 260.
MCCM Newsletter, March - May 2003.
Peter Lacovara, "Life and Death in the Pyramid Age," Minerva 22 (September/October 2011): 12-13.

PROVENANCE
Purchased by MCCM from Christies New York, June 12, 2002, lot 260.

STATUS
On view

COLLECTIONS
Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art

The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University

https://collections.carlos.emory.edu/objects/10151/statuette-of-a-man

Title:
Statuette of a Man, Old Kingdom Dynasty 6 2305-2152 BCE, Wood ground and paint, Egypt, The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University

Faience Heart Amulet

[2837] Amulet - Africa, Egypt, Upper Egypt, Dendera

Ptolemaic Egypt
Faience heart amulet.

Accession number: 2837

Object type:
Amulet
Object

Date made: Ptolemaic Egypt

Collection group:
Egyptology
Humanities

Display location: This object is not currently on display

Materials: Faience; Glaze

Technique: Glazed;

Geospatial site/Chronostratigraphic era:
Africa, Egypt, Upper Egypt, Dendera

Acquisition credit: Donation by Egypt Exploration Fund, 1897-1898

Record number (IRN): 104982

Dimensions:
4 cm (height)
2.6 cm (width)

Manchester Museum

https://museumcollections.manchester.ac.uk/collections/item/972ecfba-7140-3bb0-ad24-fd68ff7f0dfe/

Title:
Faience, Heart, Amulet, Egypt, Upper Egypt, Dendera, Ptolemaic period, Manchester Museum

A very fine Ancient Egyptian beaded mummy mask composed of small faience beads of various colours. They have been restrung in their original arrangement and depict a highly stylised face, with a red triangular nose and bright, trapezoid eyes. The skin takes a green hue while the small mouth features red beads and the contours of the face are rendered in a vibrant turquoise. This mask would have been placed over the face of the deceased at their burial, in a similar manner to the better-known cartonnage mummy masks, mostly for decorative or protective purposes.

Date: Circa 664-332 BC

Period: Late Dynastic Period

Condition: Very Fine Condition

Dimensions: L 15 x W 13.5 cm

Weight: 62.8 g

Beaded mummy masks abounded during the Late Period, covering both decorative and symbolic purposes in burial practices. Their unnaturalistic style and the similarities between beaded mummy masks in general make it unlikely that they were modelled after the face of the deceased individual. They seem to have been more likely generic images of a dead human face as the absence of expression and the blue-greenish skin complexion potentially indicate this. However, such masks have also been interpreted as visual representations of the god Osiris – himself also a dead being – frequently depicted in the tombs with an identical skin-colour. Their main function would have been the protection of the dead, and in our example, as the figure represented is wearing the beard of Osiris, it also could have shown his or her hope for reincarnation.

Ancient Egyptian Faience Mummy Mask - Ancient Egyptian Antiquities | Ancient & OrientalAncient & Oriental