Egyptian Faience Mummy Bead Necklace String

Flat rectangular base with crouching ibis in profile with curved beak resting on an object (possibly a diminutive seated figure of Maat), details to the feathered body, pale green glaze. 1.56 grams, 26 mm



From an early 20th century collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

Amuletic pendant of the cat goddess Bastet, sitting on a rectangular base, suspension loop behind the shoulders. 1.82 grams, 16 mm



Acquired 1990s. Property of a Staffordshire lady collector. Ex Quercus of Quonians, Lichfield, UK, 2018. Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher. Private collection, London. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.

The cat was sacred to Bastet, a protective mother goddess and the daughter of the sun god Re. Amulets provided the wearer with the goddess's protection. Her name means ‘she of the bast [ointment jar],’ which may have contained a substance favoured by or exclusive to royalty. Originally, Bastet was depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness, but by the late New Kingdom, she was typically depicted with a cat's head. She is sometimes shown with kittens, emphasising her maternal role as a fierce protector of offspring.

Plano-convex in section with stepped profile to dome and underside. 16.52 grams, 32 mm



Found in Lebanon before 1980. From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.