Faience, which dates back to pre-dynastic times,
of at least 5,000 years, is a glasslike non-clay
substance made of materials common to Egypt:
ground quartz, crushed quartz pebbles, flint, a
soluble salt-like baking soda, lime and ground
copper, which provided the characteristic color.
The dried objects went into kilns looking pale
and colorless but emerged a sparkling "Egyptian
blue." Called tjehnet by the ancient Egyptians,
meaning that which is brilliant or scintillating,
faience was thought to be filled with the undying
light of the sun, moon and stars and was
symbolic of rebirth. In the cultural renaissance of
the 26th Dynasty, also known as the Saite Period,
a green, the color of the Nile and evocative of the
verdant landscape in springtime, was particularly
popular.
By far the most important amulet in Ancient
Egypt was the scarab, symbolically as sacred to
the Egyptians as the cross is to Christians. Based
upon the dung beetle, this sacred creature forms
a ball of dung around its semen and rolls it over
the sand, creating a larger ball. Eventually, the
scarab drops the excrement ball into its burrow
where the female lays her eggs on the ground
and covers them with the ball. In turn, the larvae
consume the ball and emerge in the following
days from the ground as if miraculously reborn.
In the life cycle of the beetle, the Ancient
Egyptians envisioned a microcosm of the daily
rebirth of the sun. They imagined the ancient sun
god Khepri was a great scarab beetle rolling the
sun across the heavens. The scarab also became
a symbol of the enduring human soul as well,
hence its frequent appearance in funerary art.
The holes in this faience winged scarab reveal
that it was originally sewn onto the bandages of
a mummy, presumably over the chest region. In
this funerary context, the desire of the deceased
to be reborn in the afterlife was symbolized by
the life cycle of the beetle, echoing the daily
rebirth of the sun. The luminous blue hue of the
faience, the same blue as the life-giving sea,
further reinforces this concept. Composed of a
central scarab flanked by a pair of wings, such
three-piece ensembles are traditionally dated to
the 26th Dynasty. These wings, with the incised
feathers, appear to resemble those of a hawk or
falcon more than they do those of a beetle.
However, the falcon was associated with the sun
and the sky god Horus, thus further expanding
the theme of the solar cycle and rebirth. The
combination of such diverse elements united
together in a work of art in order to symbolize a
complex philosophy of life and death is
characteristic of Ancient Egyptian art. The artist
was not primarily concerned with imitating the
appearance of the natural world; instead, by
manipulating the composition, the artist was
able to create a work that was both spiritual and
beautiful.
- (X.0118)
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