Amulet: Wedjat

Place of OriginEgypt

DateLate Period, Dynasty 26, about 664-525 BCE

Dimensions2 3/4 × 2 1/4 × 3/8 in. (7 × 5.7 × 1 cm)

MediumEgyptian faience.

ClassificationJewelry

Credit LineGift of Florence Scott Libbey

Object number

1925.563

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

Label TextThe wedjat represents the eye of Horus, here taking the form of an amulet—a protective charm. In a battle with his brother Seth, the god of chaos and confusion, Horus lost his left eye. When the goddess Hathor healed it, Horus used the wedjat to resurrect his father Osiris, who had been murdered by Seth. This explains why Egyptians so often attached wedjat amulets to mummies. The wedjat came to symbolize the process of “making whole.”Published References

Peck, William H., Sandra E. Knudsen and Paula Reich,Egypt in Toledo: The Ancient Egyptian Collection at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, 2011, p. 78, repr. (col.) p. 79.

Exhibition History

Toledo Museum of Art, The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb, 2010-2012.