- Title
- Amulet of a Ba
- Date Made
- Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BCE)
- Medium
- Gold with inlays of lapis lazuli, turquoise, and steatite
- Dimensions
- 2 1/2 x 1 in. (6.35 x 2.54 cm)
- Accession Number
- 50.22.19
- Collecting Area
- Egyptian Art
- Curatorial Notes
The ancient Egyptians represented the ba, or soul, of the deceased as a human-headed bird that could symbolically leave the tomb, fly about the land of the living, and eventually return to the burial site. Amulets formed of precious materials, such as this example, became fashionable during the later dynasties (26−30) and were sometimes included with elaborate burial jewelry.
