Archaeological Museum of Bologna

Museo Civico Archeologico
Via dell'Archiginnasio 2 - 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211

Direzione e Uffici
Via de' Musei 8 – 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211 - Fax 051.26.65.16
mca@comune.bologna.it

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Collections / Ricerca / Egyptian collection: amulets

Amulets

The Museum of Bologna has a rich collection of over 2,000 amulets.
Amulets are small and often precious objects that the Egyptians wore during their lifetime or placed in tombs to protect the dead. The power and effectiveness of amulets derived from their shape, which could reproduce deities, animals, divine or royal attributes, parts of the human body, hieroglyphic signs and miniature figurations; the nature of the material, as the individual stones were attributed with specific magical powers; and their colours, e.g. green symbolized springtime vegetation, blue represented water or the sky, red stood for blood, and so on. Furthermore, their power was enhanced by the presence of engraved depictions and texts or by magic formulas that were recited over them by priests.

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The pendent of hippopotamus goddess Toeris is distinguished by animal and human parts. The head of the hippopotamus, its mouth open to show its tongue and teeth, the feline paws and the stylized crocodile back exalt her protective role. The goddess, characterized by the heavy breasts typical of mothers who suckle their children at length and by her swollen belly, protected motherhood, births and early childhood.


The udjat eye is one of the most common amulets in the history of ancient Egypt, symbol of integrity and unity. Its magical power stems from mythology. After the death of the god Osiris and his descent into the kingdom of the afterlife, there was a terrible struggle between his son Horus and his brother Seth to inherit the dominions of the earth. During a violent struggle, Seth managed to inflict a blow to his nephew’s eye, blinding him. Coming to the aid of the weeping Horus, the god Thot healed the wounded eye, restoring his sight completely: indeed, in ancient Egyptian udjat means “integrity”.


The Djed pillar chiefly served a funerary function. The original meaning of the hieroglyphic sign djed, whose iconography is extremely old, is uncertain. It can probably be translated as “stability”, referring to that of the spinal column allowing the deceased to stand upright again.

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Exhibition rooms | Egyptian collection