Details

LOT 0016

Egyptian Blue Glazed Ra Amulet

LATE NEW KINGDOM, CIRCA 1550-1070 B.C.

3 3/8 in. (18.4 grams, 87 mm high).

A blue glazed composition figure of the advancing god Ra (possibly Ra-Horakhty), falcon-headed and wearing a sun disc, set on an integral rectangular base, left leg positioned in front of the right, arms held straight by his sides, wearing a wig and kilt; tapering pillar with suspension loop behind solar disc; repaired.

Provenance

Acquired from Dr Jan Beekmans, circa 1982.
UK private collection.

Footnotes

In ancient Egypt, Ra sat as the king of all the deities and the father of all creation, the god who could not only govern the sun, but who transformed himself into the sun. He was associated with the falcon, hence he is typically portrayed as a human with a falcon's head. The major cultic centre for Ra was the ancient city Iwnw, known as Heliopolis to the Greeks, which today lies under modern Cairo. The ancient Egyptians were an agricultural society inhabiting a desert; the sun (and thus Ra) was an integral component of their world view.
Placed on the chest of the deceased, this amulet offered the wearer the chance of eternal renewal each morning with the sun.