Ring Depicting Isis and Horus
Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BCE)
Medium
Gold
Dimensions
1.6 × 2.2 × 2 cm (5/8 × 7/8 × 13/16 in.)
Classification
ring (jewelry)
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
140634
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
One side of this ring bears the title of a priest of Thoeris named Horemakhbit. The other side shows Isis wearing her tall horned headdress and seated on a throne nursing Horus, surrounded by flowers that represent the papyrus marsh in which she sheltered her son. The name Horemakhbit means “Horus in the Marsh”; therefore the image of Isis and Horus is a visual pun of the priest’s name.
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....