Description:
A flat-backed, bright blue glazed amulet, made of Egyptian faience, showing the goddess Mut or Mut-Sekhmet. She is depicted standing, with the body of a woman and the head of a lioness, wearing a long dress and the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, also known as the sekhemty (or its Greek form, the pschent), the two Powerful Ones, a combination of the white crown of Upper Egypt (Hedjet) and the red crown of Lower Egypt (Desheret). Below the crown a small protrusion is visible, which may be a uraeus, but more likely is the head of a vulture, part of the vulture headdress with which the goddess is often depicted. The proper left arm of the goddess is slightly bent, holding an object which could be a was-sceptre but is more likely a papyrus sceptre. In her stretched left arm she is holding an ankh-sign. There is a suspension loop at the top of the crown.
It is incredible how detailed this small amulet is, with an extremely small ankh-sign in her hand; even the "wire" or "curl" which is so characteristic for the Red Crown, from which it is protruding, ending in a spiral, is present.
Carol Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt (London, British Museum Press, 1994), p. 21-22 and 34, points out that on amulets Mut is depicted completely human, whereas the goddess shown on some Third Intermediate Period glazed-composition amulets, depicting a woman with a lion's head in a Double Crown and carrying a papyrus sceptre, is a syncretistic form of Mut and Sekhmet. The goddess is wearing the Double Crown in her role of wife to the king of the gods, Amun-Re at Thebes.
The goddess Mut was the wife of Amun and the mother of Khonsu. Together they formed the triad of Thebes. She is a divine mother, like Isis was for Horus; often the king was called her son. In a completely different aspect Mut was also believed to be a dangerous lioness, a role which she shared with Sekhmet, Wadjet, Tefnut and others. In this form she was associated with the eye of Re, which killed the enemies of the sun god by spitting fire, just like the uraeus snake on his brow did.
Dating:
Third Intermediate Period - Late Period, circa 1070-332 B.C.
Size:
Height 4.3 cm.
Provenance:
With Sotheby's London in 1978; with Bigler Fine Arts, Ruschlikon, Zürich, Switzerland.
Condition:
Minor damage to the suspension loop, else intact and with a beautiful blue colour. Mounted.
Price:
€ 1,800
Stock number:
E1350