Ring Depicting Isis and Horus

Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BCE)

Egyptian

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.

Status: On View, Gallery 50
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Ring Depicting Isis and Horus
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.: 305 BCE–30 BCE
Medium: Gold
Inscriptions: The priest of Taweret, Hor-[em]-akhbet.
Dimensions: 1.6 × 2.2 × 2 cm (5/8 × 7/8 × 13/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson
Reference Number: 1894.960
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/140634/manifest.json

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1923), p. 111 (ill.).
Roberta Casagrande-Kim, ed., When the Greeks Ruled Egypt: From Alexander the Great to Cleopatra. Exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014), p. 78, fig. 5-8 (image on reverse of ring pictured), p. 98, cat. 83.

Art Institute of Chicago, When the Greeks Ruled: Egypt After Alexander the Great, October 31, 2013 - July 27, 2014; traveled to New York City, NY, the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, October 8, 2014 - January 4, 2015.
Art Institute of Chicago, Life and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, Feb. 11, 2022 - present.

Reverend Chauncey Murch (1859-1907), Luxor, Egypt; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1894; price reimbursed by Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson, 1894.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.