Menit amulet

Unknown

664–30 B.C. · Blue faience · Egyptian Art

The menat is a term for the counterweight of a menat necklace, a heavy set of beads with counterweight sacred to great female goddesses in particular who were appeased by the sound of the shaken beads. The counterweight served as a symbol of the whole elaborate necklace. The menat remained an important magical amulet throughout Egyptian history, serving to propititate the great goddesses and evoke their powerful protection.

Artist

Unknown

Date

664–30 B.C.

Medium

Blue faience

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Bequest of W. Gedney Beatty, 1941