Cobra Snake Amulet

Artist Unidentified

Place of OriginEgypt

Date25th–31st Dynasties (747–332 BCE)

Dimensions1 11/16 in. (4.3 cm)

MediumEgyptian faience

ClassificationJewelry

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1906.151

Not on View

Label TextThis vibrant faience amulet represents a rearing cobra, or uraeus, one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful symbols of protection and royal authority. The cobra goddess Wadjet was believed to defend the pharaoh and the land, and her image was worn as an amulet to ward off evil and venom, both in life and the afterlife. Faience, a glazed ceramic material, was favored for such amulets because its blue-green color evoked life, regeneration, and the fertile Nile. Cobra amulets were worn as pendants or sewn into mummy wrappings, ensuring divine guardianship for both the living and the dead.