Amulet of Sekhmet
Third Intermediate Period (about 1069–664 BCE)
Medium
Faience
Dimensions
7.8 × 1.7 × 2.7 cm (3 1/8 × 11/16 × 1 1/8 in.)
Classification
amulet
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
135838
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
With the head of a lion and the idealized figure of a woman, this amulet depicts a powerful ancient Egyptian goddess. Ancient Egyptians—both living and dead—wore amulets of gods and goddesses to bring protection and health. These included depictions of deities in their human, animal, or mixed forms. This amulet represents one of several goddesses who appeared in a hybrid leonine-human form, likely Sekhmet, a goddess of pestilence and divine violence. In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet acted as the ...
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....