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Details
LOT 0497
Egyptian Faience Nephthys Amulet
LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.
1 1/4 in. (1.68 grams, 34 mm).
Standing figure of the goddess, wearing a striated lappet wig topped by her characteristic headdress, with her arms at her sides; supported by a dorsal pillar pierced once for suspension.
Provenance
Ex early 20th century collection, London, UK.
Literature
Cf. Loffet, H.C., Collections égyptiennes du Museum Emmanuel Liais de Cherbourg Octeville, Paris, 2007, p. 58, no. 61, for a similar example.
Footnotes
This amulet represents Nephthys (Egyptian: Nebet-Hut), a protective goddess closely associated with mourning, magic, and the afterlife. Often depicted as a woman with her name in hieroglyphs atop her head, Nephthys is Isis’s sister and, together with Isis, plays a central role in the funerary rites of Osiris.
Amulets of Nephthys were often worn or placed among the deceased’s wrappings to invoke her protective role during the journey to the afterlife. As a divine mourner, Nephthys was believed to guard the dead and assist in their rebirth, making her amulet a symbol of divine protection, sacred lamentation, and renewal.
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