Selection of Ancient Egyptian Faience Amulets

This selection of faience amulets offers a glimpse into the spiritual world of Ancient Egypt. Amulets were extremely popular forms of protecting oneself in Ancient Egypt and were widely produced, worn by everyone from common people to rulers. The amulets were believed to bestow certain positive qualities onto the wearer, such as power or protection, and different shapes, colours, and materials of amulets were believed to provide different benefits. Faience, a man-made material, was the most popular material used to make amulets, particularly in the blue and green shades featured here, which were associated with life and regeneration. The heart was considered the most important of the human organs by the ancient Egyptians and was used to ensure the wearer received a positive judgment in the afterlife. Bes was a deity believed to avert evil from the household by playing music and was particularly protective of women and children. Taweret was the goddess of maternity or pregnancy, depicted as a human female body (often shown with a pregnant belly) with a hippopotamus head. She was believed to bring protection to mothers and assist in childbirth and nursing infants. Grapes, an important crop, were associated with ideas of vitality and kingship.