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Details
LOT 0003
Egyptian Thoth as Ibis and Maat Faience Amulet
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD, 332-30 B.C.
1 5/8 in. (22 grams total, 43 mm wide including stand).
On a wedge-shaped base and decorated in turquoise glaze; the ibis's beak resting on a diminutive figure of the goddess Maat; suspension loop on the neck of the bird; collector's inventory number E509' on the underside; accompanied by a custom-made display base.
Provenance
Ex Reine Margot, 1973.
Ex R. Liechti (1934-2010) Geneva, Switzerland, collection between 1950-1990s.
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, p.25, fig.21f, for similar.
Footnotes
In the judgment of the dead (Book of the Dead, saying 125), Thoth, who is often represented in ibis form, records the result of weighing the heart of the deceased. The god is therefore mostly depicted in connection with the goddess Maat, whose feather was used as a counterbalance to the purity of the heart; such amulets were thus aimed at protecting the deceased from failing in the decision of the court of the dead.
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