PHARAOH'S PHAKES

GENUINE ANCIENT  EGYPTIAN BEADS AND AMULETS, RESTRUNG ON QUALITY WEARABLE JEWELLERY,

 WITH NEOLITHIC BEADS, ANCIENT AND MODERN GEMSTONES, AND SOLID STERLING SILVER FITTINGS.

Home • About • Amulets • Jewellery Index • Jewellery • eBid Store • Contact • Puzzles • Links

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PROVERB:

Man know thyself.... and thou shall know the gods.

AMULETS

Amulets were very important to the ancient Egyptians, and were used, and worn as decoration, from Predynastic times.

Amulets were worn for religious purposes, to secure the favour of the gods, to bring good health, fertility,

good luck, wealth and happiness, as well as also being worn for individual, personal decorative reasons.

Amulets were made from stone, precious and base metals, faience, glass, clay, wood,  bone and shell.

CLICK HERE FOR RESTRUNG AMULETS AND BEADS

AHA or BES

  Depictions of the god of women and children, originally known as Aha, and later as Bes,

were very popular for ancient Egyptian (and later Greek and Roman) amulets.

Amulets of Bes were thought to protect children from harm, and keep them well and happy.

Bes was also  known as the benign protector of women during pregnancy and childbirth.

His often comical or grotesque hairy face, was thought to scare away monsters and evil spirits.

EYE OF HORUS, EYE OF RA, UTCHAT

The eye of Ra (Utchat), or eye of Horus is probably the most recognised symbol of Ancient Egypt.

The right eye symbolises the eye of Ra (Re), the primary god from early dynastic  times.

The eye symbol is also sometimes referred to as the Utchat or wedjet .

Ra was father to the other ancient Egyptian gods,  and was portrayed as the hawk-headed sky god of the sun.

Ra was often portrayed as flying across the sky in a winged disk.

As an amulet, the eye of Ra is seen as a protective symbol to bring good luck, happiness and prosperity to the wearer.

In Egyptian mythology, Horus (Hor, Horakhty or Heru), was also a hawk-headed sky god.

In some myths son of Hathor (which means house of Hor), and others son of Osiris (Ausar) and Isis (Aset).

Horus was portrayed as flying to heaven in, or as, a winged disk.

In the most famous Horus myth, Horus helped his mother, retrieve the missing body parts of his  murdered father,

in order for his mother Isis, to bring his father Osiris back to life.

Horus lost his eye in battle with his uncle Seth (Set), who was his fathers murderer.

 The eye of Horus was replaced by his grandfather Ra (the Sun God).

The left eye of Horus symbolises the moon and the right eye signifies the sun.

The eye of Horus is a very evocative symbol, representing the love and  support of family,

dogged determination, resurrection, and good luck.

It is also a symbol of good triumphing over evil, and is thought to protect the wearer.

OON

 Oon, a flower with four petals, represents food, plants and fertility, and the eternal cycle of life and reproduction.

Floral amulets were very popular as jewellery elements, and oon also adorned containers and furniture.

Amulets with oon flowers were worn to ensure good harvest, and that a person had plenty of food to eat.

SCARABS

Symbolically, scarabs were very important to the ancient Egyptians.

Jars of real scarabs were buried with pharaohs

from as early as the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom.

Scarab amulets were produced more prolifically than other talismans, and were often decorated with hieroglyphs, and used as seals.

They were inscribed with names, mottos, religious prayers and magic formulae, and were regarded as sacred by the ancient Egyptians.

Scarab amulets varied in size from under a centimetre in length, and were produced in semiprecious stones,

glass, faience, pottery, also gold and silver, many were inlaid or enamelled in later dynasties.

The scarab was associated with the different manifestations of the sun god,

because of the way that the beetles rolled dung into perfect balls around their eggs.

The ancient Egyptians saw this as a parallel to the movement of the sun across the sky,

and the emergence of the scarab young from the ball

was seen as symbolic of the creative powers of the sun.

Khepere was the ancient Egyptian scarab headed god of the rising sun,

a manifestation of the sun god Re, and was represented by the scarab beetle.

The ancient Egyptian name for scarab beetles was Kheperer (hprr),

which translates as coming into being, and rising from.

The scarab was a powerful symbol of regeneration and transformation for the ancient Egyptians,

and was often used as a good luck talisman, which was believed to attract abundance and enhance fertility.

Scarab amulets were precious objects to the ancient Egyptians, and were made into beads and incorporated

into elaborate, and beautiful  jewellery, from as early as Predynastic times in ancient Egypt.

Scarab amulets symbolise creation, rebirth and renewal, and are talismans of good luck. The Scarab is still a popular amulet in modern times.

THOTH, DJEHUTI or THOT

 Known to the ancient Egyptians as Djehuti, but now more commonly by his Greek name, Thoth.

Thoth amulets take the form of an ibis or a baboon, or a man with an ibis or a baboon head.

Often depicted as a scribe with a pen, Thoth was the god of writing, knowledge, science and medicine.

Thoth was also associated with the moon, and is often crowned by a moon disc.

His amulets were used to help with the gaining of knowledge and wisdom, and good health.

USHABTIS

Ushabtis were figures that represented people to accompany the deceased into the afterlife.

They mostly took the form of the mummified god of rebirth and resurrection, Ausar (Osiris).

Ushabtis were usually free standing statues, sometimes painted, and often inscribed with hieroglyphs.

They were also made into amulets and strung onto jewellery.

Home • About • Amulets • Jewellery Index • Jewellery • eBid Store • Contact • Puzzles • Links

Copyright © 2007- 2011.  All rights reserved.