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Single-Strand Necklace with Taweret Amulets

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

In Egyptian art, one symbol could represent both a trait and its opposite. The hippopotamus could represent great danger and chaos or, alternatively, fertility and protection in childbirth. The statuette of a male hippopotamus could represent the god Seth, who embodied danger, chaos, and disorder in the world. Yet the rare limestone statuette of hippopotami mating perhaps served as a symbol that preserved the fertility of the earth. And a necklace consisting of images of the female hippopotamus goddess Taweret could protect a woman in labor.
MEDIUM Faience
  • Possible Place Collected: Thebes, Malkata, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1332-1292 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY late Dynasty 18 (probably)
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 3/4 x 8 1/16 x 3/16 in. (1.9 x 20.5 x 0.4 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 48.66.42
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Mrs. Lawrence Coolidge and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, and the Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Single strand faience necklace. In center single dark blue glazed Thueris amulet; on each side, separated by groups of ten small, blue and blue-green glazed disk beads, six smaller Thueris amulets in light and dark blue, green and purple (?) glaze. At each end a larger group of the same disk beads. Condition: Glaze on some amulets slightly worn. Otherwise intact.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Single-Strand Necklace with Taweret Amulets, ca. 1332-1292 B.C.E. Faience, 3/4 x 8 1/16 x 3/16 in. (1.9 x 20.5 x 0.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Lawrence Coolidge and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, and the Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 48.66.42. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.66.42_PS2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 48.66.42_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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