Archaeological Museum of Bologna

This funeral amulet represents the bird with a human head Ba, one of the vital principles of man. Egyptians believed that Ba remained perching on the body of the mummy, from which he could moved away in flight only to temporarily return to light among the living

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The Ba-bird can fly between the afterlife and the world of the living, satisfying the desire of the deceased to leave the tomb and see daylight once more. The Ba amulets, almost always worn in the middle of the chest, guaranteed the return of this spiritual element to the mummified body and could replace it if it left forever.

Provenance: Provenance unknown. Palagi Collection (Nizzoli)
Datation: 26th–30th dynasty (664–342 BC)
Material: gold
Dimensions: cm 2,4 x 3,9 x 0,3
Inventory #: EG 3056