Fly amulet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fly whisks that Egyptian artists depicted in the hands of Pharaohs and high officials are potent reminders of how irksome the hosts of flies were in ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians, however, seemed to have held flies in high esteem, presumably because of this insect’s powers of fast reaction and indomitable, insistent presence.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art