Date:
Graeco-Roman Period, the second century BC
Provenance:
Lower Egypt, Alexandria, El-Hadara, Antoniades tombs
Material(s):
Man made material, faience
Hall:
In the Afterlife, showcase 4
Description
Amulet representing Harpocrates, wearing a side lock and standing with finger to the lips.
Harpocrates Amulets
By the Third Intermidiate Period, amulets of Harpocrates (Horus-the-Child) were common. These amulets were made from glazed compositions or bronze, and depicted Harpocrates naked with a side lock or wearing the triple Atef crown “Hemhem” or nemes head cover. Sometimes, he was portrayed with finger to the mouth. Some amulets depict him also carrying a crook.
Amulets representing Harpocrates, son of Osiris and Isis, aim to endow their wearer with the same protection of the potent spells Isis provided to her son.
The information given here is subject to modification/update as a result of ongoing research.
References
- Carol Andrews, Egyptian Amulets (London: British Museum Press, 1994): 16.
- Giuseppe Botti, Catalogue des monuments exposés au Musée Gréco-Romain d’Alexandrie (Alexandria: Imprimerie Générale A. Mourès, 1901): 369, no. 145.
- Mona Serry, ed., Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Antiquities Museum, introduction by Ismail Serageldin (Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Antiquities Museum, 2015): 53, 312.