Appliqué of the Horus Son Imsety from Faiyum
Price: on request
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Object number
AR3415B
| Object: |
Appliqué of the Horus Son Imsety
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| Material: |
Turquoise faience.
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| Period: |
Late Period of Ancient Egypt, 26th to 31st dynasty, 664 BC to 332 BC. |
| Description: |
Faience appliqué of the Horus Son Imsety. It is a flat plate with undecorated backside. The front side has the outline, as well as a flat relief showing the god Imsety. He is standing to the right. The amulet has two holes to stich it to the mummy bandage or to be included in a net of beads placed over the mummy's breast. |
| Background: |
In ancient Egyptian mythology, the god Horus had four sons with Isis - Imsety, Duamutef, Hapi and Qebehsenuef. They are best known as the protectors of the organs taken from the mummy. Every lover of Egyptian art knows the so-called canopic jars. These are sets of four vessels whose lids are decorated with the heads of the Horus children. Since the Third Intermediate Period, however, the organs have no longer been placed in canopic jars, but have been prepared and embalmed and returned to the body of the deceased. In place of the canopic lids, the Horus children now appeared in the form of appliqués, such as this one. The appliqués were usually placed on the mummy together with a winged scarab, so that the amulets of the four children lay out in pairs and the heads looked at each other. The appliqués were provided with holes through which they were sewn to the mummy bandage or woven in a support of beads. The Imsety figure offered here had certainly this function. Together with its siblings it protected and accompanied the deceased. The protective god Imsety was responsible for the liver. |
| Dimensions: |
66mm high without modern base. 80mm high with base.
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| Condition: |
Good condition. Broken at the chest and re-attached from two parts. Otherwise very nice preservation with many details of the surface. Two ancient drill holes. Glued to a modern base of acrylic glass. A sticker at the back of the base with print "A blue faience amulet of one of the four sons of Horus, the human-headed Imsety. Each son protected a part of the body. Imsety, the stomach and large intestiines from the Fayyum Late Period 712-332 B.C.".
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2022 on the british art market. Previously in the british family collection of D. Rowse. Taken into the collection in 1947 from the british private collection of archaeologist professor Arnold W. Lawrence. Professor Lawrence was a brother of the famous Lawrence of Arabia. Faiyum is passed down as the origin of this piece.
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| Literature: |
C. Andrews, Amulets of ancient Egypt, p. 45f.
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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