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Nehebkau Amulet

A work made of gold.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of gold.

Date:

Late Period, Dynasty 26–30 (664–332 BCE)

Artist:

Egyptian

About this artwork

Small-scale Egyptian figurines, known as amulets, were thought to promote health and good luck. Amulets were such an important part of Egyptian religious beliefs that they were worn by both the living and the dead. They could be mounted on rings or strung as bracelets or necklaces and were often placed among a mummy’s wrappings to secure the deceased’s rebirth and well-being in the afterlife. Many varieties of amulets survived, including figures of deities, parts of the human (or divine) body, animals, plants, and objects of daily life. Nehebkau, often depicted as a male with a snakehead, was one of the deities who judged the deceased before a council of the gods.

Status

On View, Gallery 50

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Ancient Egyptian

Title

Nehebkau Amulet

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.

Made 700 BCE–300 BCE

Medium

Gold

Dimensions

2 × 1 × 0.8 cm (3/4 × 3/8 × 5/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Henry H. Getty and Charles L. Hutchinson

Reference Number

1894.962

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.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/140647/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

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.

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