AN EGYPTIAN CARNELIAN ANUBIS AMULET, CIRCA 1307–1070 B.C.

拍品描述

AN EGYPTIAN CARNELIAN ANUBIS AMULET, CIRCA 1307–1070 B.C. Carved from a richly saturated reddish-orange carnelian, this finely modelled amulet represents the jackal-headed god Anubis seated in composed profile upon a low integral base. The compact, balanced silhouette is at once austere and elegant, the smooth curvature of the haunches and chest contrasting with the sharply defined, tapering muzzle and erect ear. The stone’s warm translucency animates the form, allowing light to penetrate and glow within the polished surface, lending the figure an inner vitality befitting its divine subject. Delicate incisions articulate the details of the deity’s anatomy and sacred presence. Linear grooves define the almond-shaped eye and accentuate the muzzle, while a neatly arranged rectangular grid motif on the flank provides a subtle decorative accent, creating texture against the otherwise sleek body. The suspension loop rises discreetly above the head, pierced horizontally, integrating seamlessly into the silhouette without disturbing the purity of the profile. The careful polishing enhances the stone’s natural depth of colour, with faint inclusions enriching its organic character. The reverse is smoothly finished, maintaining the rounded modelling and confirming the amulet’s intimate scale and personal function. The pierced loop would have enabled suspension on a cord or necklace, allowing the wearer to carry the protective force of the god close to the body. Such amulets were often placed among mummy wrappings or worn in life as talismanic guardianship, bridging the earthly and the eternal. Anubis, lord of embalming and guardian of the necropolis, presided over the rites that ensured safe passage into the afterlife. During the New Kingdom, particularly in Dynasties XIX–XX, devotion to protective deities found refined expression in hardstone amulets of this kind. Carnelian, associated with vitality and regeneration, was especially appropriate for funerary protection, its fiery hue symbolically linked to life-force and divine power. In uniting luminous material with sacred form, this amulet embodies both personal devotion and metaphysical assurance, a small yet potent emblem of eternal safeguarding. Height: 3 cm

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