Weight in the Form of a Frog

Arts of Africa

New Kingdom, about 1550-1069 BCE

Egyptian

Ancient Egyptians used weights, like this small frog, to help calculate the value of goods. One Ancient Egyptian unit of measurement was the qedet, equivalent to about nine grams. While this piece is small, it weighs 36.1 grams, or about 4 qedets. Since some animals were associated with favorable characteristics like strength and affluence, they became a popular form for weights during the New Kingdom. The Ancient Egyptians linked frogs to fertility and rebirth, likely because of the animal’s prolific reproduction. These ties to abundance may have made frogs a suitable form for objects used to determine value.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Africa

Artist: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Weight in the Form of a Frog
Place: Egypt (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1550 BCE–1069 BCE
Medium: Copper alloy
Dimensions: 2.2 × 2.3 × 2.6 cm (7/8 × 15/16 × 1 1/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson
Reference Number: 1893.23
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/135135/manifest.json

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1923), p. 108.

Émile Brugsch (1842-1930), Bulaq Museum and Egyptian Antiquities Service, Cairo; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1893; price reimbursed by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1893.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.