Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art · jewelry

One of the Four Sons of Horus

Source of record: Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Object Label: Living persons wore only one or a few amulets at a time, but mummies usually bear many amulets. The Ma’at amulet (no. 2) and heart scarabs (nos. 1, 3, 11), which occurred in many forms, guaranteed a successful judgment of the dead. The amulets of a hand (no. 8), lungs and a windpipe (no. 12), and wadjet-eyes (i.e., “healthy” eyes; no. 4) protected those parts of the body and also had connotations of resurrection and the unity or integrity of the mummy. The enigmatic aper amulet (no. 13) takes the form of the hieroglyph meaning “to be equipped,” perhaps in reference to the mummy’s preparation. The two crowns (nos. 5, 6) were symbols of power. The Heh insignia (no. 7), like the popular ankh-sign, denoted eternal life. Among the living, the frog (no. 9) and possibly also the hare (no. 10) suggested fertility. The amulets of the Four Sons of Horus (no. 15) perhaps served, as they did with canopic jars, to protect various organs of the body. Caption: One of the Four Sons of Horus, ca. 664–after 30 B.C.E.. Faience, 4 1/4 × 1 7/16 × 1/2 in. (10.8 × 3.7 × 1.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 51.223.3. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06

Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A blue faience amulet in the shape of a leg, featuring a falcon head.

The artifact appears to be an amulet made from blue faience, depicting a leg with the head of a falcon. The piece has several small holes, possibly for stringing or attachment. The falcon head is intricately detailed, suggesting a connection to Horus or other deity symbolism. The smooth finish and vibrant color indicate skilled craftsmanship.

decorative New Kingdom excellent
Deities Horus
Materials faience

Connections

Found at Egypt
Deities HorusWadjet
Materials Faience

Cross-references (2)

  • BKM-Accession 51.223.3 tier-2
  • BKM-Object 3564 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.