- Description
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Glazed composition amuletic figure of a ram-headed god, probably Amun-Ra or less likely Khnum; standing on a small rectangular base, in striding pose with arms on his sides, against back-pillar; modelling crude, though lines shown on schenti; plain back pillar; suspension loop on top of head; turquoise glaze well preserved; complete but restored from two fragments.
- Production date
- 664 BC - 332 BC
- Dimensions
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Height: 2.80 centimetres
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Thickness: 1.15 centimetres
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Width: 0.85 centimetres
- Curator's comments
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Object owned and held by the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. This record is included in the British Museum database as part of the Museum’s Naukratis Project, a research collaboration that aims to virtually re-unite finds from the ancient port city of Naukratis, now distributed over 80 museums worldwide.
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Edgar explained that “one of the trenches at the South end of the site produced a great quantity of small faience objects of the Saitic period” (Edgar 1905, 134). This trench was done "just N. of the ‘Great Wall’" of the Great Temenos and have provided figurines of Egyptian deities, pendants and beads (Hogarth diary – 2nd of May 1903; on this context: Masson forthcoming a). This amulet might come from such a context.
Amulets in the shape of ram-headed deities are relatively rare in Naukratis, as on other Egyptian sites of the Late and Ptolemaic Periods in general (Masson forthcoming b). This amulet represents more likely Amun-Ra, since the ram-headed god Amun-Ra Baded was the main deity revered in Naukratis (Guermeur 2005, 126-138; Yoyotte 1982/83). Furthermore, Khnum is usually recognisable by his long horizontal spiralled horns (Germond 2005, 28). However, according to Andrews, identification of deities which have the ram as a totemic animal is not easy (Andrews 1994, 30-31; various examples of amulets representing a ram-headed god: Herrmann et al. 2010, 37-38).
Andrews, C. 1994, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London.
Edgar, C. C. 1905, ‘Naukratis 1903, G. - Minor Antiquities’, in D. G. Hogarth, H. L. Lorimer and C. C. Edgar, ‘Naukratis 1903’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 25, 123–36.
Germond, P. 2005, Le monde symbolique des amulettes égyptiennes de la collection Jacques-Édouard Berger, Milan.
Guermeur, I. 2005, Les cultes d’Amon hors-de-Thebes, Turnhout.
Herrmann, C., Staubli, T., Berger-Lober, S., Keel, O., Schönbächler, G. 2010, 1001 Amulett : altägyptischer Zauber, monotheisierte Talismane, säkulare Magie, Bibel+Orient-Museum, Liebefeld, Stuttgart.
Masson, A. forthcoming a, ‘Naukratis: Egyptian offerings in context’, in M. Bergeron and A. Masson (eds.), Naukratis in Context II: Cults, Sanctuaries and Offerings. Proceedings of the Second Naukratis Project Workshop held at The British Museum, 22nd-23rd June 2013.
Masson, A. forthcoming b, Le quartier des prêtres sur la rive est du Lac Sacré à Karnak.
Yoyotte, J. 1982/83, ‘L’Amon de Naukratis’, Revue d’Égyptologie 34, 129–36.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Fair though restored from two fragments
- Department
- External
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: AN1896-1908-EA.929 (Accession Number)