Magic Ball

Possible OriginFaiyum, Egypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Period, Dynasty 26

Date664-525 BCE

MediumClay

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions1 x 1 x 1 in., 15 g (2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 cm, 1/2 oz.)

Object number2018.010.001F

Label TextCorn mummies were made from a mixture of earth and grain, wrapped in resin-coated linen bandages, and placed inside wooden falcon-headed coffins. Corn mummies embody the forces of rebirth under the control of the god Osiris. The process of assembling grain and earth in the form of Osiris symbolized the cosmic cycle of death and resurrection. It also aided the ritual transformation of the one to whom the corn mummy was given.

Four clay magic balls with white markings would have been placed aside the corn Osiris to provide magical protection.
Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesMaria Centrone, Egyptian Corn-Mummies: A Class of Religious Artefacts Catalogued and Systematically Analysed (Saarbrücken: VDM, 2009), 70-73, pl. XXXVII.
Melinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 93.

ProvenanceSaid to be ex coll. Viscountess Elizabeth Dow Dalton. Purchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Roger Fernand Galliano, Paris, France, July 24, 1974. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

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