Hedgehog on box pendant

Unknown

4th century –30 B.C., perhaps · Gold · Egyptian Art

This box pendant is topped with a tiny hedgehog whose round eyes and pointed snout have been indicated with wire tube whose projecting tongue is created with a granulated strip. The hedgehog was well-known and observed throughout both Egyptian and Greek antiquity. Egyptians had long worn amulets of the small animal - possibly connecting its ability to hibernate and reemerge with rebirth - and its ability to roll into a tiny ball was admired.

Artist

Unknown

Date

4th century –30 B.C., perhaps

Medium

Gold

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Gift of Helen Miller Gould, 1910