Egyptian Faience Amulet of Taweret

$884.60

A large Ancient Egyptian amulet of the goddess Taweret made from turquoise faience. She is depicted atypically as a hippopotamus, complete with pendulous breasts and a pregnant belly. Her limbs are those of a feline, most likely a lion and her long tail represents a Nile crocodile. She strides forward with one foot in front, as is common with amulets. There is a large suspension loop to the top of the amulet.

Date: Circa 664 – 30 BC
Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
Condition: Very fine. Small repair to suspension loop.

SOLD

SKU: AH-672 Category: Tags: , , , ,

Thoeris, also known as ‘Tawaret’ was an Egyptian deity who attended women in childbirth, and became a patron for pregnant women accordingly. She is often shown standing as a heavily pregnant hippopotamus with low hanging stomach. She was a household deity with no temple dedicated to her, but some form of shrine was in almost every house. Many women carried an amulet like this to assist them with labour and child rearing. From the new Kingdom onwards she was often depicted together with Bes, another apotropaic deity associated with women and children.

To find out more about the Ancient Egyptian amulets please see our relevant blog post: Egyptian Amulets and their Meanings: Ancient Egyptian Gods.

Weight 9.7 g
Dimensions H 5.8 cm
Country

Culture

Egyptian Mythology

Faience

Region