Tag: eye of horus

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Egyptian Artifacts Reading Hieroglyphs

Steatite Wedjat Amulets

In relation to my post about the wedjat ๐“‚€ or the “Eye of Horus” from yesterday ๐“‹ด๐“†‘๐“‡ณ, I wanted to talk about these really small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ but cool steatite ๐“…ฎ๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“ˆ’๐“ŠŒ wedjat ๐“‚€ amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช! I love how detailed the wedjat ๐“‚€ is!ย It always amazes me how ancient Egyptian craftsman were able to make such small ๐“ˆ–๐“†“๐“‹ด๐“…ฉ objects so detailed and beautiful ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹! It’s even more incredible that they have lasted in such great condition for thousands of years!

These steatite ๐“…ฎ๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“ˆ’๐“ŠŒ wedjat ๐“‚€ amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช are very similar to the steatite ๐“…ฎ๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“ˆ’๐“ŠŒ scarabs ๐“๐“Šช๐“‚‹๐“‚‹๐“†ฃ๐“ช from the Hatshepsut ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“/Thutmosis III ๐“‡ณ๐“ ๐“†ฃ era of the 18th Dynasty! They are in the same display case as the steatite ๐“…ฎ๐“ˆŽ๐“๐“ˆ’๐“ŠŒ scarabs ๐“๐“Šช๐“‚‹๐“‚‹๐“†ฃ๐“ช at the Metropolitan Museum of Art! Most would miss the fact that these amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช are not scarabs ๐“๐“Šช๐“‚‹๐“‚‹๐“†ฃ๐“ช!ย 

Steatite Wedjat Amulets
Steatite Wedjat Amulets with Hatshepsut’s throne name Maatkare inscribed on the back

Letโ€™s read some hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช! This is a simple but great inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž– to read! On the back of this amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†, Hatshepsutโ€™s ๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ–๐“Žน๐“๐“„‚๐“๐“€ผ๐“ช throne name, Maatkare ๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ is written! 

๐“‡‹๐“ ๐“ˆ– – Amun

๐“Œป – Beloved

๐“‡ณ๐“ฆ๐“‚“ – Maatkare (Truth ๐“ฆ is the Soul ๐“‚“ of Re ๐“‡ณ)

The full inscription ๐“Ž˜๐“…ฑ๐“Ž– reads โ€œBeloved of Amun, Maatkare.โ€ 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

@ancientegyptblogย 

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

Wedjat or “Eye of Horus”

The wedjat ๐“‚€ or the “Eye of Horus” was not only one of the most popular amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช in ancient Egypt ๐“†Ž๐“…“๐“๐“Š–, but also one of the most popular religious symbols in general! 

The wedjat ๐“‚€ or the “Eye of Horus” is representative of the eye ๐“น๐“๐“ค that Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ lost when battling Seth ๐“Šƒ๐“๐“„ก๐“ฃ. Thoth ๐“…ค๐“€ญ restored Horus’ ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ eye, however, the single Eye of Horus became a symbol of rebirth ๐“„Ÿ๐“ฟ๐“…ฑ or healing ๐“‹ด๐“ˆ–๐“ƒ€๐“œ due to the nature of the myth. 

The wedjat ๐“‚€ was also common symbol of protection ๐“…“๐“‚๐“Žก๐“€œ and regeneration.ย  The Eye of Horus ๐“…ƒ๐“€ญ was an amulet ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…† used by both the living ๐“†ฃ๐“‚‹๐“€€๐“ช and the dead ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ! The Eye of Horus was also associated with the moon ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“Ž›๐“‡น!ย 

Wedjat or "Eye of Horus"
Two Wedjat or “Eye of Horus” amulets on display at the MET

These two ๐“ป faience ๐“‹ฃ๐“ˆ–๐“๐“ธ๐“ผ wedjat ๐“‚€ eye amulets ๐“Š๐“Šช๐“…†๐“ช from the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070โ€“664 B.C.E.) are so detailed and beautiful ๐“„ค๐“†‘๐“‚‹! 

The wedjat ๐“‚€ eye on the left has a wing ๐“‚ง๐“Œณ๐“๐“†ƒ, lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„› (it looks like the hieroglyph symbol โ€œ๐“ƒญโ€), and and two ๐“ป Uraei ๐“‡‹๐“‚๐“‚‹๐“๐“†—๐“ช on it! All of the inlays are intact too! 

The wedjat ๐“‚€ eye on the right is missing some of the white inlay on the eye but it has the details of what looks like the bottom part of a falcon ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„ (the tail and the legs), another eye ๐“น๐“๐“ค, and an arm ๐“‚๐“บ! 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

@ancientegyptblogย