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Ancient Egyptian Faience Figure of Horus-Ra and Shu browse these categories for related items... All Items: Egyptian: Late Period: Pre AD 1000: item #909142 Please refer to our stock #GD-417 when inquiring.
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Lovely coloured faience amulets of the god Ra and two of Shu. The actual word “Shu” means being dry, withered or parched and was associated with the hot sunlight and the dry air. He is often shown holding the sun as in this fine example. He was considered the god of the space and light between the earth and the sky and was also believed to hold power over serpents. Shu also held the ladder to the heavens that the deceased would climb in order to reach the other realm. Being master of the Air, it was thus Shu's duty to separate the sky from the earth in order to maintain harmony in the universe. Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god and by the 5th Dynasty he became a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion. Ra was identified primarily with the mid-day sun, with other deities representing other positions of the sun. Ra changed greatly over time and in one form or another, much later he was said to represent the sun at all times of the day. The cult of Ra was first was based in Heliopolis which means "City of the Sun." In later dynasties Ra was merged with the god Horus and when his worship reached this position of importance in the Egypt, he was believed to rule the sky, the earth, and the underworld. In this faience example he is wearing a crown with three Uraei. All three amulets have a tiny horizontal piercing on the back. Pieces date to the Late Period cica 600-32 B.C. and the tallest measures 2.3 inches in height. Provenance: Gustave Jequier (1868-1946) |
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