Cylindrical Amulet
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
Among the rarest of Middle Kingdom amulets are hollow gold cylinders, usually decorated with tiny gold balls arranged in a geometric pattern. Goldsmiths attached these balls to the cylinders by granulation, a soldering technique developed in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) about 2500 B.C. Some amulets of this type contained tiny pieces of papyrus inscribed with magical spells.
MEDIUM
Gold, copper (?)
DATES
ca. 1938–1759 B.C.E.
DYNASTY
Dynasty 12
PERIOD
Middle Kingdom
DIMENSIONS
2 1/16 x Diam. of cap 1/4 in. (5.3 x 0.7 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
59.199.1
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Amuletic cylinder in gold. Decorated with vertical registers of granulation; at each end slightly flaring cap, the upper one furnished with suspension loop. Small holes toward top of cylinder reveal corrosion and suggest presence of copper (?) inner case.
Condition: Upper cap slightly dented. Several minute holes in upper cylinder where granulation has been lost.
CAPTION
Cylindrical Amulet, ca. 1938–1759 B.C.E. Gold, copper (?), 2 1/16 x Diam. of cap 1/4 in. (5.3 x 0.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 59.199.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.59.199.1_erg2.jpg)
IMAGE
overall,
CUR.59.199.1_erg2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 11/26/2007
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