Window mode follows your eyes with your camera, in this browser only: no picture or position leaves your device.
Amulet of a Clenched Fist
Roman Period (30 BCE–395 CE)
- Medium
- Faience
- Classification
- Costume and Accessories
- Dimensions
- 1.3 × 0.8 × 0.5 cm (9/16 × 3/8 × 1/4 in.)
- Culture
- Egypt
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Gift of Henry H. Getty and 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
Ancient Egyptians had several terms for small objects like this, which we call “amulets.” Worn by the living and the dead, these charms were meant to bring protection, health, and good luck, ensuring the bearer’s well-being in both life and the afterlife.
Body parts were a common subject for amulets because ancient Egyptians believed they would help the deceased be reborn in the afterlife with all their limbs. Many variations of hand amulets exist, showing hands open, attached to arms, or closed into fists, as with this example that depicts the thumb protruding between the middle and index fingers of a clenched left hand.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
