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<em>Ba Amulet</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E.jpg)
Ba Amulet, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E.jpg)
<em>Ba Amulet</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E.jpg)

Ba Amulet, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E.jpg)

<em>Ba Amulet</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_SL1.jpg)

Ba Amulet, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_SL1.jpg)

<em>Ba Amulet</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_NegA_SL4.jpg)

Ba Amulet, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_NegA_SL4.jpg)

<em>Ba Amulet</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.804E_wwg8.jpg)

Ba Amulet, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.804E_wwg8.jpg)

<em>Ba Amulet</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_NegB_SL4.jpg)

Ba Amulet, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_NegB_SL4.jpg)

<em>Ba Amulet</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_negD_bw.jpg)

Ba Amulet, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_negD_bw.jpg)

<em>Ba Amulet</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_negE_bw.jpg)

Ba Amulet, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E_negE_bw.jpg)

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Ba Amulet

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Ba is the Egyptian concept closest to what is meant by the English word "soul." Its composite human-and-bird form symbolizes its ability to travel to different realms. This extremely fine amulet may date to the Ptolemaic Period, but various types of gold amulets inlaid with colored stones are known from burials of Dynasties XXVI through XXX (orca 664–342 B.C.)

MEDIUM Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite
  • Reportedly From: Saqqara, Egypt
    • DATES 305–30 B.C.E.
    PERIOD Ptolemaic Period
    DIMENSIONS 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.804E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Gold amulet with a cloissone inlay of lapis lazuli, turquoise, and steatite representing a soul in the form of a human-headed bird. Viewed from below the piece displays a human head and bird’s body modelled in the round in gold. This body is attached to outstretched wings made of a sheet of gold. Attached to each wing is an eyelet made of a strip of gold. The lower part of the underside of the tail has an inlay pattern representing five feathers (lapis-turquoise-steatite-turquoise-lapis). Seen from above the sheet of gold is inlayed to represent a feather pattern which is broken up into areas of dark and light blue (lapis and turquoise) with a brown curving strip across the shoulder. Condition: One end of one of the eyelets loose; one steatite inlay missing.
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Ba Amulet, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 37.804E.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    <em>Ba Amulet</em>, 305–30 B.C.E. Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, steatite, 1 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 3/8 in. (3.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.804E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.804E.jpg)

    TAGS

    wingspan
    bird
    feather
    indigo
    turquoise
    stones
    wings
    feathers
    gold
    Inlaid
    Egyptian
    human
    head
    amulet
    Ba
    Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise and steatite
    blue
    aqua
    Human Headed Bird
    anthropoid
    anthropomorphic
    Saqqara
    Late Period
    Ptolemaic
    lapis lazulli
    steatite
    New York Historical Society Collection
    late amulets
    Ptolemaic Period
    Funerary Amulet
    Magic
    Henry Abbott Collection
    Soldered
    Die Formed

    TAGS

    wingspan
    bird
    feather
    indigo
    turquoise
    stones
    wings
    feathers
    gold
    Inlaid
    Egyptian
    human
    head
    amulet
    Ba
    Gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise and steatite
    blue
    aqua
    Human Headed Bird
    anthropoid
    anthropomorphic
    Saqqara
    Late Period
    Ptolemaic
    lapis lazulli
    steatite
    New York Historical Society Collection
    late amulets
    Ptolemaic Period
    Funerary Amulet
    Magic
    Henry Abbott Collection
    Soldered
    Die Formed

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