Material: Gold
Date: ca. 1.370-1.330 B.C.
Dimensions: 2.7 x 2.3 cm
Findspot: Egypt
Current Location: British Museum, London, EA2923
The frog and the scorpion on this ring represent the protection of life, fertility and birth.
The Frog
The ancient Egyptian goddess Heket (also Heqet) was the goddess of birth and depicted as a frog-headed woman or as a frog. She was the wife of the creator deity Chnum and a daughter of the sun god Ra.
In the Osiris myth, Heket is the goddess who breathes live into the body of Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, and thus she became the goddess of the last moment of birth and the first moment of live on earth. When the birth of Horus became closely associated with the resurrection of Osiris, Heket’s role was linked to resurrection as well. She was believed to help with – and protect – both: The birth into the earthly world and the birth into the other world. Heket was also the goddess of the last stage of the flooding of the Nile and thus associated with fertility of the land and germination.
The Scorpion
The ancient Egyptian goddess Selket is a patron goddess of healers as she prevents and heals bites and stings from poisonous animals, especially from scorpions.
In the myth of the birth of Horus, she assists Isis after the child was stung by a scorpion. And together with Isis, Neith, and Nephthys she is one of the four tutelary goddesses of the four sons of Horus who guard the coffins and canopic jars. In the pyramid texts, Selket is the mother of the snake god Nehebkau and she nourishes the king.
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