A miniature temple as an amulet

This is a miniature naos (temple) which was crafted as an amulet with a removeable figure of Amun-Ra.

The two sides of the naos are decorated with standing and kneeling winged goddesses wearing the sun-disc and protecting seated mummiform figures of ram-headed Amun and falcon-headed Ra (unless upper figure on shrine’s right side is ibis-headed Thoth).

The back is decorated with a figure of Heh holding year-signs and with winged cobras wearing discs and protecting goddess with sun-disc (Maat ?).

The sides each contain a column of hieroglyphic inscription identifying the shrine as a monument donated to Amun-Ra by king Thutemhat of the late Third Intermediate Period.

The base is also inscribed and can be used as a stamp-seal, with the hieroglyphic inscription “domain of Amun”.

Inside is a removeable figure of Amun-Ra as a seated man wearing double plume, enthroned, with left hand hollow to hold an emblem, now lost.

A triple-banded suspension ring above roof of naos allowed to wear the naos around the neck as an amulet and as a seal.

Bronze, 10.65 x 5.07 x 5.58 cm, 11th-7th century BC, Egypt.

Miniature Naos as Amulet, British Museum London, museum number EA11015
British Museum London, museum number EA11015 © The Trustees of the British Museum. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Link to the artefact and the text source: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/image/975724001