Sow Amulet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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. However, Nut was seen as a protective and motherly goddess. This small depiction of a sow features a loop at the top and was likely meant to protect its wearer.

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