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Egyptian Artifacts

Turtle Bowl

I don’t know why, but I think this piece is so cute! It’s a bowl π“‚§π“ˆ–π“‡‹π“π“Έ in the shape of a turtle π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰ that was made during the Predynastic Period (c. 3900–3500 B.C.E). The turtle π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰ bowl π“‚§π“ˆ–π“‡‹π“π“Έ is made of red π“‚§π“ˆ™π“‚‹π“…Ÿ clay!

In ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–, turtles π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰π“¦ were seen as an ambiguous force because they were creatures of both land 𓇾 and water π“ˆ—. Turtles π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰π“¦ were also seen as the enemy of Ra 𓇳𓏺𓁛, and in chapter 162 of the Book of the Dead, it is stated that β€œMay Ra live, and may the turtle die.” The turtles π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰π“¦ that lived in the Nile π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί were mostly nocturnal, which is probably why they were considered to be Ra’s 𓇳𓏺𓁛 enemy. Ra 𓇳𓏺𓁛 was the sun 𓇳 god π“ŠΉ, and was responsible for the rising of the sun 𓇳, while the night represented Ra’s 𓇳𓏺𓁛 death 𓅓𓏏𓏱.

While not as popular as some iconography, throughout Egyptian history, turtles π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰π“¦ took the form of vessels, palettes π“π“Šƒπ“π“†±π“¦, amulets π“Šπ“Šͺπ“…†π“ͺ, and images 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 on objects such as stelae π“Ž—π“…±π“†“π“‰Έπ“ͺ.

Turtle π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰ can also be written in hieroglyphs π“ŠΉπ“Œƒπ“ͺ like this: 𓆉𓏺.