gestures and provides an insight into how this particular emotion was communicated amongst the ancient Egyptian people.
ECM148, a faience amulet dating approximately to the Late Period, shows the goddess Isis - instantly recognisable from the hieroglyphic ‘throne’ on her head - bending on one knee with one hand to her head (fig. 1). Two small perforations on the goddess’ head and ankle show how the amulet would have been attached. The reverse of the amulet displays distinctive linen imprints, a lasting impression that alludes to the process of making faience.8 The raising of one (or more commonly two) hands is seen consistently throughout Egyptian artwork as a gesture of mourning. Several other amulets are comparable to ECM148, particularly UC52570 from the Petrie Museum and 11468 and 60859 from the British Museum. In each case a goddess - either Isis or Nephthys as it is likely that one amulet was part of a pair9 - bends to the ground on one knee with one of her hands placed to her head. Although this gesture may be unfamiliar to our Twenty-first Century eyes, to the ancient Egyptians it sent a clear message that the two goddesses, who were the mourners par-excellence, were grieving for Osiris, the mythical antecedent for all deceased Egyptians. For the emotion to be conveyed via mourning amulets the ancient Egyptians must have relied on the gestures for communication, as the facial expressions of the goddesses’ are very unclear. This is not due to damage over time, but rather the purposeful action of the artist to ensure that the gesture would be the communicator in this case.10
The amulets from the Eton Myers Collection selected in this study represent a range of particular objects that whether worn during life or made specifically to be placed on an embalmed individual in death,11 communicated ideologies of divine intervention and protection. Some scholars have placed amulets into specific groups,12 whilst others state that the arrangement of amulets into such groups is not something the ancient Egyptians had any notion of.13 What can be grouped together however, are the types of ideas and feelings particular gestures conveyed between the ancient Egyptian people.
Gestures Communicating Divine Intervention and Protection
One of the more light-hearted pieces of the Eton Myers collection at the University of Birmingham is ECM117, a faience amulet depicting the head of Bes, showing the dwarf sticking out his tongue, a gesture unusual for most deities to adopt (fig. 2). Bes was a deity known for being ‘playfully aggressive’14 and he did indeed have a more menacing side. From the Third Intermediate Period (the approximate date for ECM117) onwards amulets, such as British Museum 61314, show Bes with his tongue poking out and also with sharp teeth bared in a menacing grimace.15 His dwarfish nature is combined with these gestures to create a more threatening persona to ward away any evils from the wearer.16
Two other amulets from the collection also show actions of particular interest. ECM767 and ECM2124 depict the serpent deity, Nehebkau. Although ECM767 shows Nehebkau with a human body and ECM2124 depicts him entirely as a serpent, the gestures on each amulet are exactly the same (fig. 3). In each case Nehebkau reaches his hands towards his mouth, a gesture also seen on similar amulets, such as 24761 from the British Museum. Although Nehebkau’s mythology is not as well known today as his divine counterparts’, the ancient Egyptians would certainly have been aware of his divine powers.17 It could be that Nehebkau’s gesture shows him raising some kind of fruit to his mouth, a detail which is slightly clearer from a similar amulet, 208 in the Jacques-Édouard Berger Collection.18 This interpretation is certainly possible due to Nehebkau’s links with prosperity and the fact that in some mythological traditions his mother is said to be Renenutet, the goddess of the harvest,19 with whom images of Nehebkau are sometimes confused.20 In this sense, Nehebkau’s gesture could have communicated his mythological background whilst the amule