Art Institute of Chicago

Weight in the Form of a Frog

Egyptian

Date

New Kingdom, about 1550-1069 BCE

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

Egypt

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Ancient Egyptians used weights, like this small frog, to help calculate the value of goods. One Ancient Egyptian unit of measurement was the qedet , equivalent to about nine grams. While this piece is small, it weighs 36.1 grams, or about 4 qedets . Since some animals were associated with favorable characteristics like strength and affluence, they became a popular form for weights during the New Kingdom. The Ancient Egyptians linked frogs to fertility and rebirth, likely because of the animal’s prolific reproduction. These ties to abundance may have made frogs a suitable form for objects used to determine value.

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