© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Peter Harholdt.

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Udjat Eye Mold

AAT Object Form/FunctionClayworking

AAT Object Form/FunctionPress mold

AAT Object Form/FunctionMolds

Place FoundEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodNew Kingdom or later

Dateafter 1539 BCE

MediumCeramic

Credit LineCollected by William A. Shelton, funded by John A. Manget

Dimensions2 3/16 x 1 7/8 in. (5.5 x 4.7 cm)

Object number1921.011

Label TextAmulets in faience were produced in great multiples for burials. The faience was formed in open-faced pottery molds and, when dry, removed and fired. The transformation of the powdery white raw material into the glistening, bright blue faience must have made the charm seem even more magical.

The udjat eye, or the eye of Horus, was one of the most potent of all Egyptian symbols. It represents the eye of the falcon-headed god who lost it fighting to avenge the death of his father, Osiris. According to the myth, the eye was magically healed by the god Thoth, and so came to be associated with miraculous restorative power.
Exhibition HistoryMonuments and Mummies: The Shelton Expedition, The Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, February 8 - June 25, 1989
Daily Life in Ancient Egypt, Lousiana Arts and Science Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, September 10, 1991 - April 30, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001- March 30, 2015
The Carlos as Catalyst: The Transformation of the Museum at Emory, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University, January 18 - May 31, 2019
Published ReferencesPeter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum 2001), 60.

ProvenanceAcquired for Emory University Museum by William Shelton (1875-1959), ca. 1920.

Status

Not on view

Collections