© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Son of Horus Amulet, Imsety

AAT Object Form/Functionamulets

AAT Object Form/Functionstatuettes (free-standing sculpture)

(not assigned)Egypt

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Period, Dynasty 26

Date664-525 BCE

MediumFaience, gold

Credit LineGift of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Egyptian Tour January 2007

Dimensions2 1/16 x 1/2 x 11/16 in. (5.2 x 1.3 x 1.7 cm)

Object number2007.015.001

Label TextSome amulets, such as the Carlos Museum's set of Anubis and the sons of Horus (see objects 2007.015.001-006), were produced strictly for funerary contexts and were therefore made in the forms of deities who protected mummified remains. Anubis, the jackal-headed god, oversaw the process of mummification (search for 2007.015.005 and 2007.015.006). According to Spell 17 of the Book of the Dead, Anubis sent spirits to protect the deceased. The four sons of Horus were some of these spirits, and they protected the internal organs, which were removed during the mummification process. Imsety was typically depicted with a human head and protected the liver (2007.015.001). The baboon-headed Hapy protected the lungs (search for 2007.015.002). Duamutef protected the stomach and was usually depicted with the head of a jackal (search for 2007.015.004). Qebehsenuef, depicted with the head of a falcon, protected the intestines (search for 2007.015.003).
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, 2009 - January 2011
Monsters, Demons & Winged Beasts: Composite Creatures in the Ancient World, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 5 - June 19, 2011
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, June 20, 2011 - Present
Published ReferencesRoyal-Athena Galleries, Art of the Ancient World V, Part II (1988), 22, numbers 104-109.

ProvenanceWith Jerome Eisenberg (1930-2022) [Royal-Athena Galleries], New York, New York, 1988. Purchased by MCCM from Sue McGovern-Huffman [Sands of Time Antiquities], Washington, DC.

Status

On view

Collections