Amulet of a Birth God
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Ancient Egyptian women wore amulets of birth gods to protect them during and immediately after childbirth. One of these birth gods, a female deity often known as Taweret, was shown with the head and body of a hippopotamus, lion's paws, and a stylized crocodile hanging down her back. Her male counterpart, commonly called Bes, usually appeared frontally. In early Dynasty 18, artists depicted Bes with a human face and a lion's body and mane.
Caption
Amulet of a Birth God, ca. 1539–1478 B.C.E.. Faience, 1 1/4 x 5/8 x 1/8 in. (3.2 x 1.6 x 0.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.967E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.967E_PS20.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Title
Amulet of a Birth God
Date
ca. 1539–1478 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Place made: Egypt
Medium
Faience
Classification
Dimensions
1 1/4 x 5/8 x 1/8 in. (3.2 x 1.6 x 0.3 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Accession Number
37.967E
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.
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