Egyptian Green-Glazed Steatite Ram-Headed Scaraboid

£ 895.00

A beautiful, green-glazed steatite Egyptian scaraboid amulet, in the form of a recumbent ram, with hieroglyphs to its reverse. The ram is depicted recumbent, it’s stylised head resting on its front legs. The curves of the animal’s horns rise up in relief, whilst incised lines decorate it’s body. The soft brown hardstone has been glazed in a dark turquoise. The reverse features a neat and clearly inscribed composition of hieroglyphs. To the top is a sun disc, sitting above the ‘mn’ draughtboard sign 𓏠, followed by a ‘n’ water ripple 𓈖. To the right of these three signs is a large, elongated feather. Together,  these are transliterated as ‘a-mn-n’ and, with the sun-disc, form the name of the god Amun-Ra. The remaining hieroglyphs form the epithet ‘Lord of the two lands’. The ‘nb’ basket signs is translated as ‘Lord’, whilst the two linear signs refer to the ‘two lands’. The scaraboid is pierced for suspension.

Date: Circa 1070 - 332 BC
Period: Late New Kingdom Period- Late Period
Provenance: Private Swiss collection.
Condition: Excellent. Some loss of glaze.
Product Code: ES-180
Categories: , Tags: , ,

The Egyptian god, Amun-Ra, was a highly important deity in the Egyptian pantheon. Originally, he was worshipped as two gods, the creator of the universe, Amun, and the sun-god, Ra. He gains national importance after the defeat of the Hyksos at Thebes in the 16th century and it is from this date we see a combination of the two gods. As his position grew, Amun-Ra’s worship was almost monotheistic in nature, with the other gods considered manifestations of him. So great was his influence that he was identified with the Greek god Zeus from the Ptolemaic period, to form Zeus Ammon. Alexander the Great claimed divine descent as the son of Amun. Amun-Ra was often depicted as a Ram-headed figure.

To discover more about amulets in the Ancient Egyptian world, please visit our relevant post: Amulets in Ancient Egypt.

Weight 3.14 g
Dimensions L 1.7 x W 1 cm
Egyptian Mythology

Amun, Ra

Stone

Steatite

Region

North Africa

Reference: For similar ram amulet: Bonhams Auction House, London, Antiquities, 13th Oct 2006, part of lot 63 and for similar reverse: The British Museum, London, item EA3578

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