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Details
LOT 0438
Egyptian Gold Fly Amulet
LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.
5/8 in. (1.76 grams, 17 mm).
Chevron-shaped pendant with incised detailing to the body and wings.
Provenance
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Literature
Cf. Andrews, C., Amulets of Ancient Egypt, London, 1994, fig. 48, for similar examples of gold flies.
Footnotes
Considering that Egyptian artists often depicted fly whisks in the hands of pharaohs and high officials, one might assume that flies were merely a nuisance. However, the Egyptians held flies in high regard due to their quick speed, reactions, and persistence. Small fly amulets first appeared in burials during the Naqada II Period, around 3200 B.C. These amulets grew in popularity, and the materials used to make them expanded during the New Kingdom. They are crafted from various materials such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, carnelian, amethyst, faience, and bone. These amulets were believed to protect against insect bites and to ward off troublesome flying creatures through apotropaic magic. Some believe they may have even been intended to symbolise the fly’s fecundity. Additionally, pharaohs would bestow gold, fly-shaped pendants as military awards to honour the bravery and fly-like persistence of soldiers in battle.
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