The little holes tell us that this blue faience amulet of the goddess Nut was once sewn onto the outer wrappings of a late New Kingdom mummy (ca. 1200 B.C.); an assurance that she would help carry the newly deceased safely over to the afterlife.
In April 1896 the amulet caught the eye of William Myers, a British military officer and keen collector, who, sadly, was killed just three years later in the Boer War in South Africa. Myers bequeathed his huge collection to his childhood school, Eton College, which suddenly possessed one of the world’s finest private collections of Egyptian art.
While Myers had a keen eye for a beautiful piece, his diaries often recorded precious little information regarding provenance. A new exhibition at the University of Birmingham, called "Objects Come To Life" is designed to fill in some of the blanks of items from the Eton Myers collection.
Our faience Nut amulet, for example, is likely to have originated from Tuna el-Gebel (Hermopolis Magna), in Middle Egypt, which was built largely from the ruins of Akhenaten's dream city, Akhetaten.
Enjoy the full article in the latest issue of Nile Magazine: http://www.nilemagazine.com.au/buy-subscribe
And to view the exhibition or to learn more about some of the collection, visit: birminghamegyptology.co.uk/virtual-museum/objects-come-to-life.