Art Institute of Chicago

Amulet of Two Fingers

Egyptian

Date

Late Period (664–332 BCE)

Medium

Hematite

Culture

Egypt

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This amulet depicts the index and middle fingers of a right hand. The fingernails and joints are carefully rendered using incised lines. Amulets in this form were always made from dark-colored glass or stone (as in this example) and may represent the embalmer’s fingers. They were usually placed on the left side of a mummified body’s torso, near the incision that had been made to remove the internal organs. Here the amulet could heal the wound created during the mummification process so that its owner’s body would once again be whole in the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians produced amulets in a variety of forms and from many different materials in order to provide protection in life, death, or both. Two-finger amulets like this example were used exclusively in a funerary context.

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