Skip to main content

Engraved gem with

Image attached to CG 498

An image of Engraved gems. Magical amulet. Obverse: Harpocrates in profile to the left, crouching upon the lotus bloom. His left hand is raised to his lips and in his right hand he holds the flail. The lotus plant upon which he sits is composed of the usual central bloom and two smaller, budded stalks; it grows from the top either of an altar or a naos (there seems to be a doorway carved into the base of the pediment which suggests a shrine or naos). To the left of this central subject is the erect lion-headed serpent. Chnoubis; to the right strides an ibis which is attached by means of a stretched cord to one of the budded stalks of the lotus. Arranged in the field above the ibis and Chnoubis, and encircling the elevated Harpocrates, are various animals (badly worn)- three crocodiles, a falcon and crab, two goats and two indistinct falcons. Reverse: inscription in two lines. Intaglio cutting, serpentine, 28 mm x 22 mm, circa 200- circa 400. Roman Imperial.

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

About this image

Engraved gems. Magical amulet. Obverse: Harpocrates in profile to the left, crouching upon the lotus bloom. His left hand is raised to his lips and in his right hand he holds the flail. The lotus plant upon which he sits is composed of the usual central bloom and two smaller, budded stalks; it grows from the top either of an altar or a naos (there seems to be a doorway carved into the base of the pediment which suggests a shrine or naos). To the left of this central subject is the erect lion-headed serpent. Chnoubis; to the right strides an ibis which is attached by means of a stretched cord to one of the budded stalks of the lotus. Arranged in the field above the ibis and Chnoubis, and encircling the elevated Harpocrates, are various animals (badly worn)- three crocodiles, a falcon and crab, two goats and two indistinct falcons. Reverse: inscription in two lines. Intaglio cutting, serpentine, 28 mm x 22 mm, circa 200- circa 400. Roman Imperial.

Image data

  • Accession Number: CG 498
  • Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
  • Aperture: f/32.0
  • Focal length: 105
  • Camera: NIKON D800
  • Photographer name: Jaymes Sinclair
  • Image height: 1025 pixels
  • Image width: 684 pixels
  • Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows)
  • Filesize: 572.42kB
  • Exposure time: 1/15
  • ISO Speed: 100
  • Fnumber: 32/1
  • Captured: 2014:04:24 16:22:34

Key words

3rd Century 4th Century AD altar amulet animals antiquity birds Chnoubis Chnoumis Chnuphis crocodile deity engraved gem falcon Fitz_ANT gemstones goats gods Harpocrates Heru Horus ibis incised intaglio intaglio cutting lotus magical amulet mythological mythology naos Ra Roman Roman Imperial serpentine shrine temple Xnoubis

Colours in this image

rgb(207,195,189), rgb(81,77,76), rgb(148,139,134), rgb(170,172,172), rgb(122,124,124), rgb(32,32,32), rgb(165,163,172), rgb(117,115,124), rgb(44,35,36), rgb(48,44,35), rgb(180,116,100)

Citation for print

This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Engraved gem with " Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-201371 Accessed: 2024-04-19 13:53:52

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-201371 |title=Engraved gem with |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-19 13:53:52|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/images/media-201371

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/ant/ant46/CG_20498_1_201404_jas244_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Magical amulet"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Engraved gem with </figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...