Harpocrates flanked by Isis & Nepthys

Sister goddesses, Isis and Nepthys, stand beside and hold hands with Harpocrates, the god of silence, secrets and confidentiality in the Hellenistic religion developed in Ptolemaic Alexandria.

Harpocrates stands in the centre, his youthfulness indicated by his nudity and the sidelock of hair worn on his head. He is flanked by Isis and Nephthys. All the figures are standing with their backs against a rectangular panel. There is a suspension ring at the back.

While Egyptian jewelry was worn in daily life, most of the examples known today came from tombs, where they adorned mummies. Amulets provided magical protection for the wearer in both life and death. Represented here are Horus the Child (Harpocrates) flanked by Isis and Nephthys.

The Egyptian child god Horus, known as Harpocrates in Greek, is the son of Isis and, essentially, the personification of the newborn sun. He is often pictured as a naked boy holding one finger just below the lips of his mouth, which is in fact the hieroglyphic sign for the word “child.”

This green glazed amulet was discovered in Tarsus, a historic city in south-central Turkey, an ancient centre of trade in the Mediterranean, and the place where Mark Antony and Cleopatra first met.

Late Period, ca. 664-332 BC. It now resides at the British Museum. EA11638