Brooklyn Museum: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Relief of Ptah Holding Ankh and Djed

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Relief of Ptah Holding Ankh and Djed

In modern times the amuletic image most closely associated with ancient Egypt is ankh-sign, the hieroglyph for the words "life" and "to live." Although the image appears widely in modern jewelry, it is one of the rarest types of amulet to survivor from ancient Egypt, where it was a symbol largely restricted to depictions of royalty and deities (here Ptah, one of Egypt's most important gods). The Djed-pillar hieroglyph mean stability and enduringness, and was believed to help ensure those qualities in the afterlife.

Medium: Stucco
Place Made: Egypt
Dates: 4th-3rd century B.C.E.
Period: Late Period-Ptolemaic Period
Dimensions: 5 1/4 x 3 5/8 x 7/8 in. (13.4 x 9.2 x 2.3 cm)
Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art
Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Accession Number: 86.226.17
Credit Line: Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.
Image: Overall, 86.226.17_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006

Catalogue Description: Grey to light brown stucco fragment with a representation of the god Ptah in raised relief, facing right, holding staff surmounted by djed pillar and ankh sign. Near hand above far hand. The god wears a tight fitting cap, a formal beard (no beard strip), a tassel in back and is dressed in the usual shroud with rounded neck. Plastic eyebrow and cosmetic line. Condition: Fragment, outline undefined since it is set into a velvet frame. Figure preserved down to level of buttocks; nose, ear, beard, and neckline of garment damaged. Surface slightly corroded and discolored.

Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Relief of Ptah Holding Ankh and Djed