Ancient Egyptian Gold Bastet Amulet

[Serendipity]

One of the ancient Egyptian antiquities which has captivated me recently is an absolutely exquisite Egyptian gold Bastet amulet dating from the New Kingdom Period, c. 1550-1070 BC. It’s infinitesimally small and features a seated cat that is barely a centimetre high. It’s just half a gram of gold in weight. It still has black tar-like traces of bitumen embalming fluid on it perhaps from being buried with a mummy. Amazingly, the amulet can stand on its integral flat base on a tabletop unlike modern pendants.

Bastet was the Egyptian cat goddess of the home, domesticity, women's secrets, cats, fertility, and childbirth. She protected the home from evil spirits and disease, especially diseases associated with women and children. The gold amulets are far too small to be showcased which is why they’re being sold as museum rejects from the 1920s. Wealthy industrialists were inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the 1920s to become amateur collectors of Egyptian antiquities. The gold cat amulets might have been sold to well-off pilgrims worshipping at the Temple of Bubastis.

I’m totally baffled how ancient Egyptian artisans could create anything so infinitesimally small and anatomically perfect without the aid of a magnifying lens. Modern goldsmiths would struggle to create such tiny gold objects even with a microscope. Regrettably, I had to give the beautiful gold Bastet amulet a miss after I realised that there was no place where I would be able to store such a tiny object without losing it. I sometimes wonder if what Egyptologists think of as genuine Egyptian antiquities might be cleverly contrived fakes from the 1920s. The artistry of some Egyptian antiquities is truly astounding.

[Ron C2]

pics or it never happened.

[Serendipity]

pics or it never happened.

Thank Bastet! The images downloaded! I don’t know whether I should forget my regrets and snap up the amulet before someone else does. I’ve got this theory that those Egyptian cat amulets without holes punched in the suspension loops like this one were being used as votive offerings by pilgrims at the Temple of Bubastis comparable to Christian votive candles. Alternatively, they might have been reserved for burial with mummies or the holes intentionally blocked after the amulet wearers died.

[Serendipity]

For anyone interested in ancient Egyptian amulets, I highly recommend the informative book 'Amulets of Ancient Egypt' (London, 1994) by Carol Andrews. I own a copy of the book myself which is illustrated throughout with beautiful photos.

[Serendipity]

UPDATE: The good news is that I finally caved in to the irresistible charms of the cat-goddess Bastet and bought the exquisite Egyptian Bastet amulet. The statuette is cast in solid gold and depicts the feline goddess with remarkable anatomical accuracy in her traditional ‘hieroglyphic’ seated zoomorphic cat-form with the tail always wrapped around its right side along the paws. The goddess sits erect on a sub-rectangular base and has a blocked suspension loop to the nape of her neck. The amulet weighs in at just 0.5g and is a mere 0.8cm (1/4") high. The seller was kind enough to supply gratis one of those floating coin and gem holders with a silicone membrane when I expressed my fears about how I could store my first tiny antiquity.

[Jay GT4]

Congrats!  Beautiful piece.  I sold my shabtis,  kinda creepy knowing they were in a tomb.

[Russ]

Just an opinion/observation... It looks as if the cat was cast; then, the tube for suspension was soldered on. The hole may just be filled with unguents.

[Serendipity]

Just an opinion/observation... It looks as if the cat was cast; then, the tube for suspension was soldered on. The hole may just be filled with unguents.

Russ, thanks for your important observations. Yes, the moulds for ancient Egyptian amulets have been excavated in archaeological digs indicating that they were solid-cast. From the wear on the gold amulet, the Bastet cat wasn't a purpose-made cast for the deceased before being deposited in the mummy's wrappings. It was clearly a cherished item in life as it was in death. Amulets cast in gold are exceptionally very rare compared to other materials and were reserved for members of Egypt's elite.

I don't know if the suspension loop to the nape of the neck was blocked before or after the owner's death for magical ritualistic reasons because the amulet is self-standing without any support like a miniature ornament or Bubastis temple cat. Interestingly, the composition of the black embalming fluid or bitumen on ancient Egyptian artefacts has been analysed by modern Egyptologists and found to originate from the Dead Sea area of Israel.

Needless to say, the gold Bastet cat amulet displays the same astonishing anatomical precision as a bronze temple cat even down to the long tail curled around its right paw. All this despite the amulet's diminutive size indicating the clear adoration the ancient Egyptian goldsmith and Egyptians in general had for their feline companions. What appears to be a casting sprue is visible near the cat's right ear and hasn't been entirely removed perhaps because of the amulet's diminutive size.

[Joe Sermarini]

Nice amulet!

[Virgil H]

That is absolutely beautiful. Congrats.

Virgil

[Serendipity]

What appear to be tiny linen fibres still attached from the mummy's wrappings are discernible just below the amulet's suspension loop. The vital importance that amulets held for ancient Egyptians can be seen in the later Fayum mummy portraits, which depict amulets and pendants, perhaps with apotropaic functions to ward off the spectres of disease and death. Disease and plague play a prominent part in the biblical Egyptian narrative. We know from modern Egyptological research that most ancient Egyptians died at a relatively young age and were unlikely to live beyond 40 years of age. King Tutankhamun, for example, died at the age of about 18 years.

[quadrans]

Hi,
 Congratulation 👍

 Great piece


  Joe