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Amulet of the Deity Heh Holding Signs for Millions of Years

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Living persons wore only one or a few amulets at a time, but mummies usually bear many amulets. The Ma’at amulet (no. 2) and heart scarabs (nos. 1, 3, 11), which occurred in many forms, guaranteed a successful judgment of the dead. The amulets of a hand (no. 8), lungs and a windpipe (no. 12), and wadjet-eyes (i.e., “healthy” eyes; no. 4) protected those parts of the body and also had connotations of resurrection and the unity or integrity of the mummy. The enigmatic aper amulet (no. 13) takes the form of the hieroglyph meaning “to be equipped,” perhaps in reference to the mummy’s preparation. The two crowns (nos. 5, 6) were symbols of power. The Heh insignia (no. 7), like the popular ankh-sign, denoted eternal life. Among the living, the frog (no. 9) and possibly also the hare (no. 10) suggested fertility. The amulets of the Four Sons of Horus (no. 15) perhaps served, as they did with canopic jars, to protect various organs of the body.
MEDIUM Faience
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES ca. 945–718 B.C.E.
    PERIOD Third Intermediate Period
    DIMENSIONS 1 9/16 x 7/8 x 1/4 in. (3.9 x 2.2 x 0.6 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1169E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented; by 1852, acquired in Egypt by Henry Abbott; 1859, purchased from Henry Abbott by the New-York Historical Society; 1937, loaned by the New-York Historical Society to the Brooklyn Museum; September 1948, purchased from the New-York Historical Society by the Brooklyn Museum.
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    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Pale blue-green glazed faience openwork amulet representing a Heh-god kneeling, facing right, and holding two palm branches. The upper ends of the fronds curve inwards into the sun-disk which rests upon the god's head. An eyelet rests atop the disk. The god's wig is glazed black. Condition: Lower left part missing; incrustation in hollows and on the rear; otherwise good.
    CAPTION Amulet of the Deity Heh Holding Signs for Millions of Years, ca. 945–718 B.C.E. Faience, 1 9/16 x 7/8 x 1/4 in. (3.9 x 2.2 x 0.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1169E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.1169E_wwgA-3.jpg)
    IMAGE installation, West Wing gallery A-3 installation, CUR.37.1169E_wwgA-3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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