Egyptian Gallery Egyptian amulets (3) and scarab (tactile)
Synopsis
Amulets were magic charms worn for protection against injury or disease.The living wore them as jewellery and they covered the body of the dead to protect them in the afterlife.
Amulets came in many forms. Many depicted gods so the living may have worn a figure of Bes protector of the family, whilst mummies were covered with gods of the afterlife such as Anubis or Horus. Some were the shape of body parts such as a hand or leg. These may have been magical replacements for actual limbs that had been lost or damaged.
Many amulets represented a hieroglyph such as the ˜Ankh which meant life or the ˜Djed' pillar for stability. The ˜wadjat' was the eye of the god Horus and meant ˜Healthy one'. It was thought to give strong protection against evil.
Scarabs were beetle-shaped charms representing rebirth and placed within the mummy's wrappings.The Heart Scarab was most important of all, covering the heart so that it did not speak out against you when you were judged by Osiris god of the underworld.
(a) Djed pillar - origin unknown; 664-343 BC; faience (a ceramic made with sand); 11 cm high by 3 cm wide and 1.5 cm thick. A pale blue/green glazed pillar with a flared base and four horizontal bars at the top and looks like an electricity pylon. Tactile image is just slightly larger.
(b) Bes - origin and date unknown; faience (a ceramic made with sand); 3.5 cm high by 0.6 cm wide and 0.6 cm thick. This pale blue/green glazed figure is in the shape of the dwarf god Bes and has a large head and small body with short arms and legs. Tactile image is four times larger.
(c) Wadjat (or Eye of Horus for protection) - origin unknown; 945-656 BC; faience (a ceramic made with sand); 4.5 cm high by 5 cm wide and 1 cm thick. An Egyptian-style eye that has a thick outline with a pupil in the middle with the corner of the eye extended to the left. An eyebrow follows the same line as the eye and its outline extension. Below the eye is a slightly off centre 'j' shape that goes from the base of the eye just past the pupil and turns upwards below the outline extension. A further vertical pattern extends between the eye and eyebrow and between the bottom of the eye down to the base of the 'j' shape. This is also the shape of the hieroglyphic symbol for the wadjat. Most of the blue/green glaze has come off it making it look more like a stone than pottery. Tactile image is one and a half time larger.
(d) Heart scarab - origin unknown; 664-343 BC; faience (a ceramic made with sand); 14.5 cm long by 8 cm high and 1 cm thick. This has the body of a scarab or dung beetle with falcon wings on either side. The wings are attached through small holes in the scarab and wings by fine cord. The scarab has the distinctive shape - head, thorax and abdomen divided by two lines, one across and one down to show where the wings would emerge for flying. The wings have a straight top with rounded sides and base. The heart scarab is pale blue with black markings on the wings to denote the primary feathers. Tactile image is just slightly smaller.
The tactile image shows the three amulets and heart scarab on one page. All are shown in outline infilled with a texture. Further lines and solid texture show some of their detail.