Details

LOT 0026

Egyptian Blue Glazed Faience Figure of Pataikos

SAITE PERIOD, 26TH DYNASTY, 664-545 B.C.

1 3/4 in. (10.8 grams, 43 mm).

Wearing a broad collar and a stylised scarab on top of the head, elongated arms resting on the lower part of his protruding abdomen.

Provenance

Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.

Literature

Cf. Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, p.39, pl.36b, for a similar example.

Footnotes

Herodotus mentions Pataikos as a dwarf-like representation of Ptah, although the ancient Egyptian name of the god remains unclear. These diminutive amulets symbolise Ptah’s immense magical power, which served to protect the wearer from dangerous creatures such as snakes and crocodiles. The role of the deity in the funerary sphere is explained in Spell 164 of the Book of the Dead, where a Pataikos is used to protect the deceased's heart from enemy attacks and the putrefaction of the body.