Frog Amulet
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: Frog Amulet, ca. 1390–1295 B.C.E.. Glass, 9/16 in. (1.5 cm) Base: 9/16 x 11/16 in. (1.4 x 1.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 59.18. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A small blue glass amulet shaped like a frog, shown in profile against a light background.
The object is a solid, handmade-looking blue faience/glass amulet with a frog form. The head and forebody are raised, with molded facial details and a slightly open mouth; the limbs are indicated by shallow carved/protruding shapes. The belly curves into a rounded base, and the back is smooth with a single raised ridge. Several small surface irregularities and tool marks suggest ancient or antiquarian manufacture, though exact dating cannot be confirmed from the image alone. No visible hieroglyphs, cartouches, or text appear on the amulet. No identifiable deities or royal names are directly readable from the image; the frog form is consistent with common Egyptian amulet iconography associated with rebirth/protection, but the exact associated deity cannot be confirmed visually.
Cross-references (2)
- BKM-Accession 59.18 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3670 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.