Advanced Search 
View: Front
Amulet of Pataikos
Nubian
Napatan Period, reign of Piankhy (Piye)
743–712 B.C.
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), el-Kurru, Ku 53
Medium/Technique
Faience
Dimensions
Height x width: 7.8 x 3.5 cm (3 1/16 x 1 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number24.704
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsJewelry, Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Near East
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment – Amulets
DescriptionThe blue faience amulet represents Pataikos, a popular protective deity, amulets of whom were believed to ward off threats to the wearer. He is usually depicted as a nude dwarf with a bald head, often wielding a pair of knives. Here, as often, he wears a feathered crown adorned with a solar disk and pair of horns. There is a uraeus on each shoulder, and the god has a knife in each hand and cynocephalus by each knee. On the reverse in relief are two winged lion-headed goddesses crowned with disc. There are some small fragments missing.
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)
(Accession date: January 1, 1924)