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<em>Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet</em>, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 16.580.60_PS9.jpg)
Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 16.580.60_PS9.jpg)
<em>Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet</em>, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 16.580.60_PS9.jpg)

Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 16.580.60_PS9.jpg)

<em>Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet</em>, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.16.580.60_NegID_16.580.23_GRPA_print_cropped_bw.jpg)

Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.16.580.60_NegID_16.580.23_GRPA_print_cropped_bw.jpg)

<em>Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet</em>, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.16.580.60_bodyparts.jpg)

Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.16.580.60_bodyparts.jpg)

<em>Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet</em>, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , CUR.16.580.28_16.580.60_16.580.24_16.580.23_NegID_16.580.23_GRPA_print_bw.jpg)

Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , CUR.16.580.28_16.580.60_16.580.24_16.580.23_NegID_16.580.23_GRPA_print_bw.jpg)

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Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

The sema-hieroglyph, used in the words “unification,” “to unite,” and their derivatives, represents an animal’s lungs and windpipe. As such, the shape of this sign frequently appears in Egyptian art in scenes of the king uniting the two lands of Upper and Lower Egypt. As an amulet, the sema-hieroglyph ensured a unified corpse, integral to one’s survival in the afterlife.

The customary choice of dark stone for this amulet refers to the darkness of the night sky and the fertile silt of the Nile’s inundation (or annual flooding)—the sources of the daily rebirth of the sun and the yearly regeneration of nature.
MEDIUM Obsidian
DATES 664-343 B.C.E.
DYNASTY Dynasty 26 to Dynasty 30
PERIOD Late Period
DIMENSIONS 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 16.580.60
CREDIT LINE Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Dark brown stone 'sm3' sign, as amulet. Back flat and plain. Front surface incised at base only. Dull finish. Blind eyelet at top. Coarse work.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 16.580.60_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 16.580.60_PS9.jpg., 2019
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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<em>Lungs-and-Windpipe Amulet</em>, 664-343 B.C.E. Obsidian, 1 1/4 × 9/16 × 3/16 in. (3.1 × 1.4 × 0.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father Charles Edwin Wilbour, 16.580.60. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 16.580.60_PS9.jpg)

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