LOT 0693

Large Egyptian Green Glazed Faience Bifacial Pataikos Amulet

LATE PERIOD, 664-332 B.C.

3 3/4 in. (54.3 grams total, 95 mm including stand).

Nude Pataikos standing with slightly bent legs on a rectangular base; his short arms bent, and his clenched fists resting at the sides of his slightly protruding belly; janiform head topped with a smooth, closely fitting cap similar to the one worn by the god Ptah; loop at the nape of the neck for use as an amulet; mounted on a custom-made stand.

Ex Mr E.C.(1923-2014), Israel.
Inherited by his son D.L., Switzerland.

Cf. Furlan, U., Amulets of the First Millennium BCE in the Nile Delta: Continuity and Change Through Production, Consumption and Circulation, GHP 41, London, 2026, p. 110, fig. 4.12, for a comparable example from Heliopolis.

Amulets had a diverse range of functions: they were either worn by the living or used as small votive offerings in private and official cult contexts. They also played an important role in funerary practices, as they were either wrapped into the mummy, placed on it (mummy amulets), or given to the deceased as grave goods. In the Late Period, dwarfs were venerated as popular protective deities, in analogy to Bes and Harpocrates. Moreover, since the Late Period, the creator god Ptah, who was worshipped in Memphis, was also represented as a childlike dwarf.