Advanced Search
Advanced Search

Amulet of Amen

Nubian
Napatan Period, reign of Piankhy (Piye)
743–712 B.C.
Findspot: Sudan, Nubia, el-Kurru, Ku 53

Medium/Technique Faience
Dimensions Length: 1.6 cm (5/8 in.)
Credit Line Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number24.1084
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsJewelry / AdornmentAmulets

DescriptionThis green glazed faience amulet represents Amen, the god of Thebes who became Egypt's supreme deity and one of the most important deities of Napatan and Meroitic Nubia. He is shown as a ram-headed human male wearing a headdress made up of the solar disk and uraeus serpent. The back pillar bears an inscription. Such amulets were believed to offer the wearer some of the benefits of Amen's power.
ProvenanceFrom el-Kurru, Ku 53 (tomb of Queen Tabiry). 1919: excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of Sudan.

(Accession date: January 1, 1924)