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Hedgehog

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
When food is scarce, hedgehogs retreat into underground dens for long periods, to re-emerge only in times of abundance. The Egyptians associated this behavior with rebirth and thus wore amulets in the form of hedgehogs or left figures such as this one in tombs. Also, according to the Ebers Medical Papyrus of the early Eighteenth Dynasty, hedgehog spines, when ground up and mixed with fat or oil, cured baldness.
MEDIUM Faience
DATES ca. 1938-1700 B.C.E.
DYNASTY Dynasty 12 to early Dynasty 13
PERIOD Middle Kingdom
DIMENSIONS 1 5/8 x 1 5/8 x 2 13/16 in. (4.2 x 4.1 x 7.1 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 65.2.1
CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Blue-green faience hedgehog with black spots on elliptical base, both left legs slightly advanced and modeled freely in the round. Back is scored in grid pattern and bumpy to simulate quills.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
CAPTION Hedgehog, ca. 1938-1700 B.C.E. Faience, 1 5/8 x 1 5/8 x 2 13/16 in. (4.2 x 4.1 x 7.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 65.2.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 65.2.1_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 65.2.1_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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