Red Crown as Amulet
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Living persons wore only one or a few amulets at a time, but mummies usually bear many amulets. The Ma’at amulet (no. 2) and heart scarabs (nos. 1, 3, 11), which occurred in many forms, guaranteed a successful judgment of the dead. The amulets of a hand (no. 8), lungs and a windpipe (no. 12), and wadjet-eyes (i.e., “healthy” eyes; no. 4) protected those parts of the body and also had connotations of resurrection and the unity or integrity of the mummy. The enigmatic aper amulet (no. 13) takes the form of the hieroglyph meaning “to be equipped,” perhaps in reference to the mummy’s preparation. The two crowns (nos. 5, 6) were symbols of power. The Heh insignia (no. 7), like the popular ankh-sign, denoted eternal life. Among the living, the frog (no. 9) and possibly also the hare (no. 10) suggested fertility. The amulets of the Four Sons of Horus (no. 15) perhaps served, as they did with canopic jars, to protect various organs of the body.
Caption
Red Crown as Amulet, ca. 664–30 B.C.E.. Faience, 1 1/2 x 7/8 in. (3.8 x 2.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.48. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.16.580.48_wwgA-3.jpg)
Title
Red Crown as Amulet
Date
ca. 664–30 B.C.E.
Period
Late Period to Ptolemaic Period
Geography
Place made: Egypt
Medium
Faience
Classification
Dimensions
1 1/2 x 7/8 in. (3.8 x 2.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour
Accession Number
16.580.48
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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Frequent Art Questions
The label says that 5 is a "Red Crown" and 6 is a "White Crown," but they're both blue. What makes them red and white?
Though Egyptologists refer to the Red, White, and Blue crowns by their colors, it is the shape that actually defines the type. The names come from what color the crowns the king actually wore would have been.Number 5, the red, reed crown is a symbol of Lower Egypt. Number 6, the white, leather crown is a symbol of Upper Egypt. When worn together, like pharaohs often did, they symbolize a united Egypt. The pharaoh could be referred to as the Lord of the Two Lands, meaning Upper and Lower Egypt.
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