Amulet representing and Udjat-Eye
Amulet representing and Udjat-Eye
This amulet was carved from a red carnelian pebble mottled with black and showing whitish areas. Smooth and polished, it was worked on the front side only and features incisions that indicate the anatomical details of a right eye.
1st millenium B.C., 2nd millenium B.C.
L : 3.9 cm
Out of stock
Product Description
This amulet was carved from a red carnelian pebble mottled with black and showing whitish areas. Smooth and polished, it was worked on the front side only and features incisions that indicate the anatomical details of a right eye. The eye is surmounted here by herringbone incisions that would represent the eyebrows. The hole for suspension was pierced horizontally, at the pupil level.
With the scarab, the udjat-eye was a prophylactic symbol par excellence of ancient Egypt; it appears on a great variety of objects utilized by all classes of the population. A hybrid that combines a human eye (conjunctiva, pupil and eyebrow) and markings that adorn the eye of a hawk, this amulet evoke the idea of fullness and of the integrity of the reconstituted body of the deceased – an allusion to the legend of the eye of Horus, which was snatched away during the battle with Seth, and finally recovered by Toth.
