Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Hedgehog

ca. 1938–1700 B.C.E.

1 of 6

Object Label

When food is scarce, hedgehogs retreat into underground dens for long periods, to re-emerge only in times of abundance. The Egyptians associated this behavior with rebirth and thus wore amulets in the form of hedgehogs or left figures such as this one in tombs. Also, according to the Ebers Medical Papyrus of the early Eighteenth Dynasty, hedgehog spines, when ground up and mixed with fat or oil, cured baldness.

Caption

Hedgehog, ca. 1938–1700 B.C.E.. Faience, 1 5/8 x 1 5/8 x 2 13/16 in. (4.2 x 4.1 x 7.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 65.2.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 65.2.1_SL1.jpg)

Title

Hedgehog

Date

ca. 1938–1700 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 12 to early Dynasty 13

Period

Middle Kingdom

Geography

Place made: Deir el Nawahid, Egypt

Medium

Faience

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

1 5/8 x 1 5/8 x 2 13/16 in. (4.2 x 4.1 x 7.1 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

65.2.1

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Is this what I think it is? So cute!

    If you’re thinking hedgehog, you’re right! The Egyptians associated the hedgehog with rebirth because they retreat into underground dens for long periods only to re-emerge in times of abundance.
    Because of this association, the ancient Egyptians wore amulets in the form of hedgehogs and left figurines of them (like this one) in tombs where rebirth of the deceased in the afterlife was supremely important.

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