An Egyptian Blue Faience Amulet of a Bolti Fish, New Kingdom, Amarna Period, ca. 1364 - 1347 BCE
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The bolti fish shelters its eggs and even its hatched babies in its mouth and so for the Egyptians it was particularly symbolic of new life. So potent was its symbolism that in one Ramesside workman's tomb at Deir el-Medina the deceased is represented as a gigantic bolti lying on a lion-form bier attended by Anubis. During the New Kingdom, the backs of scaraboids were often carved into the shape of a bolti; the fish was also a popular motif for the undersides of contemporary scarabs, usually in the company of other symbols of regeneration. This flat-backed example has been mold made from blue glazed faience.
Bibliography: Carol Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, page. 67.
Dimensions: Length: 7/8 inch (2.01 cm)
Condition: Missing the tail but otherwise intact.
Provenance: Private Maryland collection of a diplomat, acquired while serving in Egypt between 1949 and 1956, and then by descent.
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