Artistic Artifacts Online Exhibition
Scepter / Amulet (ANKH)
fig.74
Museum number of the British Museum: EA54412. Registration number: 1919,0208.71. Approximate date of the artifact: 700BC-500 BC, belonging to the Napatan cultural period. Found during excavations of the Temple of Taharqo, B300, and acquired in 1919 in a fair condition. Materials used: glazed composition. Technique used: mould-made, glazed. Dimensions: 9.2 inches height, 4.3 inches width, 0.9 inches depth, and weighing 0.7 pounds. Currently on display at the British Museum with location number G65/dc10.
What makes this particular amulet different is that it was found in a temple that was not intended for the funerary purposes. Another important detail is the size of the artifact, absence of a lug for suspension, which makes it possible to conclude that it was meant to be carried (Strudwick, Nigel, pp.280-281). There is a symbolic, social, and religious importance of this particular Ankh as can be seen from its structure. It deals with the various ritual peculiarities and reveals the benefits of this amulet for the owner, speaking of stable domination, control, knowledge, and a ruling power. This statement can be supported with the help of four important hieroglyphic symbols that compose the Ankh. The first element is "Anhk" itself, which means "life". Next, there is "djed", which means endurance, and, finally, "was" and "heh", as a part of the scepter, which means dominion for millions of years and an endless control (Quirke, Stephen and Jeffrey Spencer, p.94, fig.74). Holding important traditional, symbolic, and religious significance, the amulets speak both of ruling power, immortality, control, and the knowledge that is yet to be revealed.
Amulet (Form and Representation of Pataikos)
Museum number of the British Museum: EA13531. Registration number: 1879,0712.233. The artifact has been found and acquired in a good condition in Egypt, in 1879. The amulet acts as a representation of Pataikos, belonging to the subject of an ancient Egyptian deity. Materials used: glazed composition. Technique used: glazed. Dimensions: 2.9 inches height, 1.2 inches width, and 0.8 inches depth. An artifact is currently not on display.
The amulet, representing Pataikos, an ancient Egyptian god of protection, is a blue glazed composition with a scarab, located at the top of the head, which acts as a solar symbol, a collar, and two crocodiles, placed beneath the feet of the deity. The back of the pillar is inscribed with the presence of Hieroglyphs. Standing on crocodiles, and usually being depicted with snakes and scorpions, the amulet of god Pataikos "has a symbolic protective function with the frequent comparison to the god Horus" (Gozzoli, Roberto B., p. 32). As one compares this artifact to the Ankh amulet, there is a strong resemblance in symbolism that focuses on power, control, religious, and ritual constituents. Pataikos, a deity worshipped in the ancient Egypt, shared protective symbolism in the form and functions as the amulet was worn as a symbol that helped to chase away the evil that could cause sickness, misfortunes, and a loss of authoritarian power (Hedvig, Györy, pp. 491-502). The …
