Belonging to Horudja, son of Wahibrenakht, this small stela is a form particularly popular during the Late and Ptolemaic Periods. Known as a cippus, it served both protective and curative purposes. The stela depicts the god Harpocrates (Horus-the-child), naked, with the soft, fleshy body and sidelock of a youth. The god defends against dangerous animals-standing upon two crocodiles, he has subdued a lion, oryx, scorpion, and snakes, which he grasps in his hands.
According to one Egyptian myth, young Horus was killed by a scorpion and revived by Thoth. The images and spells carved on the stela impart that divine healing power to those similarly afflicted. The Egyptians believed strongly in the potency of the spoken and written word. Reciting the prayers incised on the stela and drinking water poured over its surface activated its magical properties.
- Title: Cippus
- Location: Africa, Egypt
- Physical Dimensions: 4 x 3 1/8 x 1 in. (10.2 x 7.9 x 2.5 cm)
- Provenance: With Christie's London, December 13, 1988, lot 275. Ex private collection, Netherlands, purchased from Sotheby's, early 1990s. With Antiqua, Ltd., Woodland Hills, California, 1995. Purchased by MCCM from Sands of Time Antiquities, Washington DC.
- Rights: © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Bruce M. White
- External Link: https://collections.carlos.emory.edu/objects/12056/
- Medium: Actinolite
- Art Movement: Egyptian
- Period/Style: Late Period, early - mid Dynasty 26
- Dates: 664-589 BC
- Classification: Ancient Egyptian Art
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