museum assignment

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Museum Assignment
I visited the Metropolitan Museum of New York for my museum project. My area of interest was in the Egyptian god-rulers. I, therefore, identified and observed three items under this category. These included the Faience Amulet of Horus and Isis, the Faience Amulet of Taweret, and the Faience Amulet of Bes image. The Faience Amulet of Horus and Isis was made in the late Dynastic or the Hellenistic period which was between 664-30 B.C. The item is 3.9 cm in length and features the goddess Isis seated on her throne. She is wearing a tight-fitting garment and tripartite wig that is surrounded by a solar disc and ram horns. Her left breast is held by her right hand while the left hand is supporting the young Horus who rests on her lap. Isis was the goddess of marriage, health, and wisdom as well as protector of dead. She was worshiped as the guardian and depicter of magic and nature as well as the model wife and mother. Isis loved the sinners, slaves and the low-class men and women but also listened to the rich and rulers. Horus, on the other hand, was her son and was one of the most important ancient Egypt gods. He was the god of the sky and kingship. According to reports, his right eye represented the sun while his left represented the moon. The moon and earth traversed the sky as he flew across the heavens.

The Faience amulet was made during the late dynastic to the Hellenistic period which was between 664-30 B.

C. The figure is 4.4 centimeter in length and made of glazed clay. It features the goddess Taweret who is featured as a hippopotamus with pendulous human breasts and the limbs of a feline standing on a flat surface. Taweret was the goddess of childbirth as well as fertility in Egypt. Lastly, the faience amulet of Bes image was made and used during the third intermediate period that ran from Ca. 1090-900 B.C. It was made of glazed clay and is around 4.7 centimeter in length. Bes was the god of pregnant women, family, and children and is the form of a lion standing on its hind legs. He was worshiped as the protector of households and was regarded as the defender of all that was bad and the defender of all good things.
The three figures that I chose for my project have much in common. First, they are all made of glazed clay. They also belong to the Gold and Silver classification. The main thing to note is that they are all faience amulets. Amulets were worn around the neck in the belief that they would protect the wearer or bring luck to them. Faience amulets were made of sintered-quarts ceramic surfaces that were coated most of the clay figure of the item and gave the piece a luster of bright colors, with the most common being blue. The items show that the Egyptians were remarkable artists and art was their primary economic and social activity. Most of the people were adored in the amulets while the dead were buried with faience made items. The three items also show that ancient Egyptians were superstitious by the belief that bad things may happen to them if they failed to wear the amulets. The figures also express their faith in gods.
The items are attractive as they are faience made hence have very appealing bright colors and surfaces. The major difference in the items comes from the periods in which they were made. The first two were made during the dynastic period while the third one was made and used in the third intermediate period.