Phoenician Stone Bird-Shaped Weight

A typical mummiform figure with moulded facial detailing, a lappet wig, and hands holding a pick and hoe, the back with a possible hieratic inscription, mounted on a custom-made stand with label 'Ancient Egypt / (26th Dyn - Ptolem.) / circa 664-332 BC / Turquoise Faience / Ushabti Figure'. 91 grams total, 13 cm high including stand



Ex old UK collection. Acquired from Cestrian Antiques, Chester, UK, 2002. Ex Pemberton collection, Wales, UK. Accompanied by old information labels with collection reference C.234. Accompanied by the original Cestrian Antiques invoice.

Carved with integral ribbed loop to the reverse; unfinished. 4.4 grams, 31 mm



with Hotel des Ventes, Drouot, Paris, France. From the collection of Mr H. Naudy, Paris, France. Acquired at between 2004-2010. Property of a French collector.

This ancient amulet represents two ostrich feathers or shuty. Interestingly, these feathers were also present on the Atef crown of Osiris, the god of the afterlife and the dead. This suggests the amulet was believed to imbue the wearer with Osiris's divine power and protection.

Wearing a broad collar and a stylised scarab on top of the head, elongated arms resting on the lower part of his protruding abdomen. 10.8 grams, 43 mm



Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s.

Herodotus mentions Pataikos as a dwarf-like representation of Ptah, although the ancient Egyptian name of the god remains unclear. These diminutive amulets symbolise Ptah’s immense magical power, which served to protect the wearer from dangerous creatures such as snakes and crocodiles. The role of the deity in the funerary sphere is explained in Spell 164 of the Book of the Dead, where a Pataikos is used to protect the deceased's heart from enemy attacks and the putrefaction of the body.