Winged Goddess Nut Amulet

Blue glazed faience composition amulet of Nut, the goddess of the sky, depicted with outstretched wings, but similar representations are also known for the goddess Isis. This kneeling woman is a goddess with protective outspread wings.

On her head are cows’ horns and a sun disk, which are elements that could be worn by various goddesses. The amulet features several small holes that were made for either sewing the pieces onto a mummy‘s wrappings or for incorporating them into beaded nets, which were placed on top of a wrapped mummy.

Winged Goddess Nut Amulet
Winged Goddess Nut Amulet

Nut is usually depicted with stars covering her body, particularly her hands and feet, which were seen as the four cardinal points. She was the granddaughter of the great sun god Ra, but also an important mother figure to him in many of the legends.

Sows are connected to the sky goddess Nut, who was thought to give birth to the stars each night and swallow them at dawn. Ancient Egyptians sometimes depicted her as a sow, based on the animal’s behavior to eat her own piglets.

In ancient Egyptian mythology, Nut (pronounced “newt”) is the goddess of the sky and heavens. She was the daughter of Shu, god of vital breath, and his wife Tefnut, goddess of heat. She was usually depicted as a woman bent over Earth with her head in the West and feet in the East.

Late New Kingdom or early Third Intermediate Period, 19th Dynasty to 22nd Dynasty, ca. 1295-712 BC. Made of Egyptian faience. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 26.7.982a–c