Ancient Egypt, Late Dynastic to Ptolemaic Period, ca. 664 to 30 BCE. A petite, hand-carved stone amulet known as a pesesh-kef (PsS-kf in Egyptian) used during a funerary ritual called the "Opening of the Mouth." The amulet exhibits a bifurcated profile with a pair of hooks projecting from the top, and the incised midsection was textured to provide better grip for the priest. Miniature pesesh-kef amulets like this example are rare since they were generally votive pieces and due to contemporaries being of a larger, handheld size for ritual use. Size: 0.15" L x 0.69" W x 1.33" H (0.4 cm x 1.8 cm x 3.4 cm)

According to author Carol Andrews, "The Opening of the Mouth ceremony carried out on the mummy on the day of burial to restore to the deceased all his earthly faculties and reincorporate the spirit within the body entailed the use of various prescribed ritual implements, among them the distinctly shaped pesesh-kef. . . Most pesesh-kef amulets come from non-royal burials of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and later, and are easily confused with contemporary two-feather amulets which are made from the same materials and have a similar outline. Possession of a pesesh-kef amulet would guarantee for eternity the deceased's use of all his faculties in the Afterlife." (Andrews, Carol. "Amulets in Ancient Egypt." University of Texas Press, 1994, pp. 83-85).

Cf. a carnelian example with a gold head at The British Museum, museum number EA30848; for additional information on the pesesh-kef, please see: Roth, Ann Macy. "The PsS-kf and the 'Opening of the Mouth' Ceremony: A Ritual of Birth and Rebirth." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 78 (1992), pp. 113-147.

For additional information about the "Opening of the Mouth" ceremony, please see the Global Egyptian Museum article entitled "Opening of the Mouth ritual."

Provenance: Collection of Dr. W. Benson Harer, Los Angeles, California, USA, acquired before 2004

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#182092

Minor abrasions and staining to scattered areas, otherwise intact and excellent. Great surface smoothness throughout, and nice preservation to overall form.