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Ivory wand
Egyptian
Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 13
1783–1640 B.C.
Object Place: Egypt, Said to be from Naqada
Medium/Technique
Ivory
Dimensions
Length x width: 35 x 4 cm (13 3/4 x 1 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Emily Esther Sears Fund
Accession Number03.1703
CollectionsAncient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsReligious and cult objects
DescriptionCarved from hippopotamus ivory, this wand is decorated on one side with a procession of both real and fantastical animals. These figures include a cat, frog, griffin, composite felines, the goddess Taweret, and a jackal-headed god. Such figures are customarily identified as apotropaic, or protective beings, all carrying knives to stress this function. There is a narrow line border along the sides with a periodic notched pattern. The procession of figures is flanked by a large lotus flower at the pointed side of the wand and a panther (?) head at the rounded end.
Ivory wands were particularly popular as of the Middle Kingdom. They were associated especially with expectant mothers and newborns at the time of childbirth, a very tense and dangerous time for both and ancient times. Ethnographic parallels suggest such items may have been held and/or waved by a mother during labor to ward off real dangers to babies such as snakes and scorpions, as well as malevolent supernatural forces that might complicate delivery and the survival of mother and child.
This wand is complete but in fragments.
Ivory wands were particularly popular as of the Middle Kingdom. They were associated especially with expectant mothers and newborns at the time of childbirth, a very tense and dangerous time for both and ancient times. Ethnographic parallels suggest such items may have been held and/or waved by a mother during labor to ward off real dangers to babies such as snakes and scorpions, as well as malevolent supernatural forces that might complicate delivery and the survival of mother and child.
This wand is complete but in fragments.
ProvenanceSaid to be from Naqada. 1903: purchased for the MFA in Qena, Egypt from Ghirgas by Albert M. Lythgoe for £2. Acquired with funds from the Emily Esther Sears Fund.
(Accession Date: January 1, 1903)
(Accession Date: January 1, 1903)