Two Egyptian Diorite Sma Amulets

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Late period, 664-332 B.C.

Material: Diorite

Dimensions: 3 cm and 2.3 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 1507

Provenance: Old US private collection prior to 1924 according to the collection card. Thence with Goldberg auctions on 29 December 2009, lot 810. There acquired by the collection Dr. W. Benson Harer, Los Angeles, California.

Condition: Intact

Description: Two rare Egyptian Sma amulets on an old collection card of 1924. The diorite amulets have a ribbed shaft, a cruciform head with transom and an arrow-like finale at the bottom which often has the form of a heart. The Sma- or union symbol, which is incorrectly labelled as “Sam” on the collection card, represents the lung and windpipe of an animal, and means as a hieroglyph “union”. It should ensure the deceased that his body enters the other world as a whole. The symbol was also often used on the sides of a royal throne, which symbolized the “union” of both lands, namely Upper- and Lower Egypt. Affixed with a string on the old collection card, with the collection number 1395.