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Amulet of a Frog
New Kingdom–Third Intermediate Period (about 1550–664 BCE)
- Medium
- Stone (mottled brown white)
- Classification
- Costume and Accessories
- Dimensions
- 1.3 × 1.3 × 2 cm (9/16 × 9/16 × 13/16 in.)
- Culture
- Egypt
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Gift of Charles L. Hutchinson
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
With its brown-and-white spotting and alert eyes, this small frog appears astonishingly lifelike. Though Ancient Egyptians had several terms for small objects like this, we call them “amulets” today. Such charms were believed to bring those who wore them protection, health, and good luck. Worn by both the living and the dead, amulets helped ensure the wearer’s well-being in life and the afterlife.
The Egyptians likely linked frogs to fertility because of the animal’s prolific reproduction, and women may have worn amulets like this one to assist in pregnancy and delivery. Heqet, a goddess of childbirth, was one of the deities who appeared as a frog or a frog-headed woman. Frog-shaped amulets could also aid in rebirth to the afterlife.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
