Magical Figure
Unknown Artist
ca. 1802–1550 B.C.
Medium
Clay (unfired)
Dimensions
H. 7 cm (2 3/4 in.); W. 3.7 cm (1 7/16 in.)
Classification
figure, magical, execration, tablet
Period
Late Middle Kingdom–Second Intermediate Period
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1933
Accession Number
33.1.123
Tags
Art Historical Context
### Magical Figure This petite clay figurine, standing just 7 cm tall, hails from Egypt's Late Middle Kingdom to Intermediate Period (ca. 1802–1550 B.C.), specifically Dynasty 13 to the Second Intermediate Period. Crafted from unfired clay—a medium often chosen for its accessibility and ritual impermanence—this "Magical Figure" likely served protective or apotropaic purposes in daily life or funerary practices. Its small scale (7 cm high by 3.7 cm wide) suggests it portable, perhaps worn as an amulet or placed in a household shrine to ward off evil or invoke supernatural aid. In ancient Egyp...